


Traitorous Minds

by morrezela



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Amnesia, Background Relationships, Blood Drinking, M/M, Multi, Soul Bond, Telepathic Bond, Vampire Hunters, Vampires, dubcon, morreyeson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 16:42:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11490465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morrezela/pseuds/morrezela
Summary: Vampire AU: Gabriel had given up on ever being claimed by a mate, and had resigned himself to death. Then he was claimed at a bonding ceremony by a man he thought was rather boring.





	1. Gabriel

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Blood drinking, violence, dub-con content, vampires, vampire execution, explicit sex, biting, discussions of erectile dysfunction, themes of betrayal, amnesia. Background pairings of McHanzo and Pharmercy.
> 
> Depiction of Gabriel with greyed out, sickly skin during the first half of the fic. 
> 
> Special thanks: to All_the_damned for betaing this for me!  
> (All mistakes you find at my own.) 
> 
> Please check out the beautiful art for this piece on Maxkiki’s Tumblr!
> 
> Art Link: https://maxkiki.tumblr.com/post/162938077161/my-entry-for-the-r76-big-bang-reaper76bigbang

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Gabriel**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

With aching joints, Gabriel Reyes pulled his clothing over his aged body. His skin was thinner than it had ever been, prone to bruising and easily cut. The body armor that had been a salvation ten years ago now brought pain alongside its protection. But it hid Gabriel’s pale, gray skin from view.

 

He had never been in denial about his vanity. He had been a beautiful man, and being ashamed of that had always seemed a foreign concept to him. Beauty was power in the human world. In the vampire one, it was more. It was easy to find a willing human when one’s face and body spoke to their deepest desires.

 

But Gabriel’s once magnificent body had begun to betray him over the years. Now he truly looked the part of a specter. If he went too long without feeding, his teeth could be seen through the thin covering of his lips. Repulsive now instead of resplendent, even he disliked looking upon his own countenance.

 

A knock sounded at his door. Through their bond, Gabriel knew it was Jesse, his only child, and his successor if only Gabriel could convince him to pay more attention to coven politics. Like all children, Jesse did not want to think about his sire’s imminent death. Gabriel would have to speak to Hanzo about it. For all that Jesse’s mate was younger than him, Hanzo had a head for business that rivalled Gabriel’s own.

 

“You need help, Boss?” Jesse asked as he entered the room. It was said lightly, but Gabriel could feel the judgment that lay beneath Jesse’s words.

 

“I will be done shortly,” Gabriel responded.

 

“You’d already be done if you’d draw strength from the rest of us,” Jesse told him as if Gabriel did not know the options available to him.

 

“I do not take power from the coven when I do not need to,” Gabriel chastised his child. “When you are in my place, it is important that you respect them as I do.”

 

“They’re all willing to give,” Jesse said, “and I’m not going to be in your place for a long time.”

 

Gabriel sighed as he pushed himself off the edge of his bed so that he could shuffle the few steps needed to reach his wheelchair. A century or so ago, he was a whirling dervish of death. Human hunters feared him. Now, they took from him – particularly Amari and her merry band of murderers.

 

In days gone by, they would have let Gabriel deal with his wayward coven members on his own. Oh, the Amari clan hated his coven dearly, but they would never dare infringe on his rights as Coven Master. Now, they openly reviled him. Whenever one of his coven stepped out of line, Amari would lead the charge to wipe them out of existence.

 

She claimed he was unable to properly function in his current state, but Gabriel knew that was just a front. When Fareeha chose Angela as her mate, Amari’s heir had been taken from her clan. It was a personal slight that came all too closely on the heels of Hanzo’s taking. Long had the Amaris worked to join their clan with the Shimada Clan.

 

Jesse’s rather relentless courtship of their most accomplished hunter had not gone over well. The bullet wound that still festered on Gabriel’s left pectoral was testament to that.

 

Gabriel sighed and shook his head. “It would be better for the coven if I offered myself up to Ana Amari. They need a strong leader.”

 

“They have one,” Jesse countered, fire in his voice. “It ain’t like you to be so dour.”

 

“Isn’t it?” Gabriel asked. “There’s a man downstairs, eagerly awaiting the chance to claim, to be claimed. And he will not be mine. You do not know what it is like to live so long without a mate. I would not wish this bullshit upon anyone.”

 

Jesse laughed. “Come on. You really want to bond to some dipshit who got himself thralled for weeks on end? Dude was practically begging to be allowed the chance to participate in a claiming. That ain’t the sort of person you’re destined to mate with, can’t be.”

 

“It’s not about him. It’s about the hundreds of others who have gone through the ritual. None of them are ever mine. I’ve been close before,” he admitted.

 

Jesse’s eyes grew wide in shock.

 

Gabriel let out a bitter laugh. “Don’t be so surprised. I’ve been passed over by many mates. Fareeha’s hesitation was nothing compared to some of the others.”

 

Angela had hissed at him for months after their claiming, certain that Gabriel would try to take her mate from her. If not for Jesse’s interference, Gabriel would have tossed her out of the coven for her insolence. Still, she was the best doctor in the world and one of the few who specialized in both vampire and vampire mate conditions. Tolerating a bit of defiance had been worth the retention of her services.

 

“You never speak about it,” Jesse said softly.

 

“Because there is nothing to speak of,” Gabriel replied. “As humans say, ‘Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.’ That being said, I am still the master of this coven. It is my duty to push aside my maudlin thoughts and preside over yet another claiming ceremony.”

 

“That it is,” Jesse agreed. “And don’t you be thinking I’ve missed your refusal to borrow power from the rest of us.”

 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “If you want to help me so badly, push this fucking wheelchair for me.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The crowd was thin compared to most claiming ceremonies. Despite his personal luck in the matter, Gabriel’s coven tended to do well in mating off. The humans participating in the ceremony rarely left it without becoming securely bonded, but this claiming would likely be one of those.

 

Humans that stayed under a thrall for long periods of time were generally weaker in constitution. They lacked the mental prowess to claim and master a vampire. They were overwhelmed by the needs and power of their mates.

 

Not that they were bad people. Gabriel still employed many of them. Even if they lacked the right personality and skill set to mate with a vampire, there was still a benefit to having humans working with his coven. Mostly, they did not ask the uncomfortable questions that other humans did. Business connections were important – even to the immortal.

 

The man standing in the claiming circle was unlikely to even be one of those humans. Oh, he was beautiful to look at. If Gabriel’s body wasn’t akin to a walking skeleton, he might even consider bedding the human before wiping his memories. That body was tempting even if the mind that owned it was a bit… dull.

 

Kindness was not a word used to describe vampires, but their capacity for it was equal with any human’s. The background file on one John Mabry laid out exactly how incompatible he was to live within the world of the supernatural. His work history was unambitious, as were his school grades. His social media accounts were filled with bland posts about sports teams where he seemed to root for whoever was winning.

 

People like John were meant to live out their average lives in peace. Gabriel didn’t like to alter or remove memories from them, but it helped them regain normality in their lives. And for people who just wanted to be unremarkable and fit in, there was no greater gift.

 

Despite John’s unremarkable resume, there were still several vampires hanging out with their bonding kits. Suitcases and duffle bags filled with treats and treasures for their mates were clutched in their hands. They held on to a hope that had long ago died inside of Gabriel – even if they had to mate with the world’s most unremarkable man to do so.

 

“They reek of desperation,” Hanzo said with a scowl fixed upon his face. A glance at his eyes showed that he was judging everyone in the room.

 

“Not everyone has such a singular focus towards mating as Jesse did,” Gabriel reminded him. “Not everyone has the luxury of being smitten.”

 

Hanzo’s lips quirked into a tiny smile. For all his aloof demeanor, his affection for Gabriel’s cowboy son was obvious. “Jesse is a better vampire than all of them,” Hanzo said.

 

Gabriel laughed. “You’ll get no argument from me on that. Though I am a biased parent.”

 

“Speaking of Jesse, he is concerned that you are not feeding enough,” Hanzo said with his typical lack of charm. How the man could have such a silver tongue in business meetings and be so abrupt in personal matters was a mystery.

 

“Bah. Jesse always worries,” Gabriel dismissed with a wave of his gray, boney hand.

 

Hanzo looked at him with something akin to pity. “You cannot eat,” he surmised.

 

Gabriel sighed. “Everything tastes like ash. Food, blood… I’m not a walking corpse for lack of trying.”

 

“You are not a walking corpse at all. If you were, you would smell,” Hanzo countered.

 

“Close enough to it,” Gabriel replied. “There’s not much farther my body can go beyond leaching the melanin out of my system for nutrition. I’m starving to death, Hanzo. Vampirism only goes so far in keeping you alive or undead or whatever it is you kids call it these days.”

 

The tone of the conversations around them lowered and soured, a sure indication of eavesdropping. Not that Gabriel expected better of his coven members. They had a right to be concerned over his health. More than one coven had disintegrated over a change of power. Gabriel had been leading Blackwatch for centuries. Changeover in leadership was all but foreign to them.

 

“Well, enough about me,” he declared loudly. “We have a claiming ceremony to get on with. No doubt Mr. Mabry is getting cold waiting for us. That is the thinnest blanket I’ve ever seen.”

 

A titter of excitement went through the crowd at Gabriel’s words. He leeched as little energy as possible from them, hoping it didn’t dim the mood. Empowered by it, he pushed his wheelchair along the path they made for him.

 

Though he could no longer be vain, his pride made him want to move without assistance. The podium was not far away, and he could collapse once his official duties were over. He’d lost count of how many claiming ceremonies he had presided over. As Coven Master, it was his duty to officiate over all of them, so he’d long ago memorized his speeches.

 

With more effort than he’d like to need, Gabriel pushed up out of his chair. The podium wobbled under his weight, but did its job in holding him upright. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Angela hovering nervously. Behind him, he could feel Jesse’s support and concern. It was altogether humiliating, but he consoled himself with the idea that it would soon be over.

 

“There is no honor so great as giving blessing to a claiming,” he began, voice rougher and more unearthly than it had ever been. “To be chosen as a mate is the ultimate gift any human could ever give. This bond must be strong and pure, created out of the basest and truest of human desire. It is for this reason this man has been stripped of his memory so that he is not hindered by thoughts of propriety or social expectation. If he chooses you, you must treat his choice with the respect and affection he deserves.”

 

“Mastery over each other is a pleasure beyond sensation. The gift of blood, the gift of life, is something that only a mate can give us for eternity. In turn, we share with them our immortality, our everything. Let this claiming be blessed by the lives of those who came before us and the blood given to them freely.”

 

Gabriel collapsed back into his wheelchair, heart visibly pounding through his thin skin. Few noticed his collapse as their eyes were focused on the human in the middle of the room. John shrugged the blanket from his shoulders in a sinuous movement.

 

Though Gabriel had been able to surmise the beautiful body underneath it, there was a pleasure in seeing it bared. John’s pecs were round and beautiful, and Gabriel found himself sorely disappointed that he could not bury his face in them, so he forced his gaze to land elsewhere.

 

Golden hair framed the pinkest cock he’d ever laid eyes on, and he’d seen quite a few in his years. Said cock swayed as John walked around the circle he’d been set in. Blue eyes seemed to search every face in the room with a sort of intensity that Gabriel did not expect to see from a man as bland as John seemed to be.

 

That gaze slide into something akin to horror as it lit upon Gabriel. Offense rose in Gabriel’s throat even though he knew it shouldn’t. He knew very well what he looked like. No mate had ever chosen a vampire as wasted as he was. Claiming was based as much on physical as mental need. While a vampire’s magic could ensure compatibility in the area of personality, the human dictated physical capability.

 

Humans didn’t mate with the weak. Their primal instincts rejected the notion. Still, John’s gaze stared at Gabriel’s emaciated form for longer than was necessary. There was confusion mixed in with the horror in it, and Gabriel felt relieved when he moved on to the next vampire.

 

Of course, when John turned to look at the rest of the room, Gabriel was treated with a view of his back. Broad shoulders tapered perfectly into a neat, trim waist. His butt was small, but Gabriel couldn’t help but think how each ass cheek would fit perfectly into his hands.

 

As he finished surveying the room, John let out a moan of frustration. The sound broke through the silence of the room. His hand rubbed at the back of his neck as his gaze turned back towards Gabriel’s direction. It wasn’t unusual to focus on the Master – especially when a claiming was going poorly.

 

Even though John was not a member of the coven, an unclaimed human could still sense who the coven’s leader was. There was gossip that this innate sense was what caused coven masters to mate so easily. Although a claiming was supposed to be free of societal constraints, there was no way around the natural pull of a coven master. Gabriel’s personal experience in the matter said it was a stupid theory.

 

Instead of staying in the claiming ring, John started moving towards the crowd. That was a bit surprising. Those who could not find a suitable mate would stay in the circle until they gave up searching. Gabriel would have bet money on John not mating, but apparently he was wrong about that.

 

He could feel the mental shields of the unclaimed around him drop. Each one was desperate to make a connection with the human walking towards them. They were eager to start the mental bond that would flourish between them for the rest of their lives.

 

Gabriel couldn’t help but feel bitter at their good fortune. It was petty of him, but there was solace in others being rejected.

 

As John wove his way through the crowd, excitement grew. John paused on the other side of the podium. Now that he was close, Gabriel could see that his gaze was directed behind Gabriel’s chair. He’d only ever garnered John’s attention because he was in the way. He didn’t like how that realization made him feel.

 

“Come here, pretty boy,” a younger vampire muttered. John’s gaze immediately focused on him, a smile curling around his lips.

 

“Fuck me,” Jesse whispered. “I didn’t think anyone would want to claim Bob.”

 

“Hush,” Hanzo whispered back.

 

While Gabriel would normally be amused at their banter, now he could only feel irritation. Want clawed at his insides. He felt rejected even though he knew that not ten minutes ago, he’d dismissed John as totally unsuitable for him. He tried not to watch as John walked past him, but found that his head turned anyway.

 

Impatient, Bob’s hand shot out to wrap around John’s wrist. The human stumbled as he was pulled flush against the vampire. “You are the prettiest thing I have ever seen,” Bob murmured.

 

Though Gabriel had not lowered his mental protections alongside the other unclaimed, he could still sense the utter panic that shot through John’s mind. The rest of the crowd had to sense it as well, but no protective body was stepping forward to harbor John from the vampire that was clearly not his mate.

 

Bob wasn’t relinquishing up his hold either, clearly not giving up on the idea of encouraging a claiming between them.

 

“Stop,” Gabriel commanded. “He is not yours.”

 

“He is,” Bob insisted, baring his fangs at Gabriel. “You wouldn’t know about claiming, old man. He feels right to me.”

 

“He is not yours,” Gabriel repeated.

 

“No,” John said as he turned to look at Gabriel a frown on his face. “He isn’t.” He yanked his arm out of Bob’s grasp and pushed his way to Gabriel’s chair. 

 

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at the unyielding stare that John was giving him. “Do you wish to stop your search?” he asked.

 

“You are hideous,” John told him instead of answering his question, “and mean.”

 

Though Gabriel could not see Jesse, he knew that his hand was sitting on the butt of his revolver. In the old days, Jesse would’ve killed a man for insulting his sire like that. He’d been fiercely loyal ever since Gabriel turned him.

John seemed to ignore the obvious aura of threat hanging in the air. “Stop being mean to me,” he ordered.

 

“I’m not…” Gabriel found the words dying in his throat as Jack climbed into his lap with one, lithe movement. The wheelchair creaked under their combined weight, but it didn’t collapse.

 

“Alright, partner. That’s enough of that,” Jesse growled. “I ain’t letting you fuck your way into this coven.” Jesse’s hand came down on John’s shoulder, and Gabriel saw a flash of panic flash into those beautiful eyes.

 

Gabriel didn’t know he was going to hiss until he’d already done it and there was three feet of empty space surrounding his chair. Any other time, he might have laughed at how fast everyone retreated. Even the unflappable Hanzo Shimada had moved with haste. But there were more important things to consider.

 

Things like how John was giving him the most pleased smile Gabriel could ever imagine seeing on anyone’s face. Things like how there was a hard prick pushing against him even though John had just declared him to be hideous. Things like how those gorgeously large pecs were right in his face, complete with perky, pink nipples.

 

It was ridiculous to even consider. He was certain that John was just trying to take advantage of him, trying to make a powerful match. But he found himself lowering his shields anyway, long dead hope resurrecting inside of him.

 

The rush of longing that hit him made his eyes water. He’d had plenty of lovers over his lifetime, but none of them had felt so strongly about him. Gabriel thought such want from such a man was impossible, but that didn’t stop him from sliding possessive hands over John’s warm skin. 

 

John arched his back in response, a pleased whine erupting out of his throat. His mind pushed against Gabriel’s like a summer wind, like it was trying to rush into any place it could find. In that instant, Gabriel desperately wished he was in better health because all he wanted to do was get John to a flat surface so he could fuck him.

 

Gabriel didn’t think he’d ever been so frustrated in his entire life.

 

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, hands stroking over Gabriel’s neck and shoulders.

 

Unable to find the words to express his frustration, and keenly aware of the onlookers than John had apparently forgotten, Gabriel just shook his head. John paused his petting and stared into Gabriel’s eyes as if he could see the thoughts in his head.

 

“You’re hungry,” John declared with some small margin of pity in his voice. Gabriel might protest the way the words were said, but John was baring his throat to him, and he could smell the blood rushing under the surface of his skin.

 

It had been a while since Gabriel had last fed directly from a human, but he hadn’t forgotten how. He hadn’t forgotten the pleasure that came with the first mouthful of blood. He hadn’t forgotten the feeling of a pulse beating against his tongue as he drank.

 

Even though he hadn’t forgotten, he couldn’t ever remember feeling so complete as he fed. How long had it been since he’d had blood so sweet? Since he could eat anything without spitting it back out again? He didn’t know, and didn’t care to remember.

 

“Well shit.” Jesse’s words were accompanied by the sound of a revolver uncocking.

 

Reluctantly, Gabriel pulled his lips away from his soon to be mate’s neck.

 

“Better?” John asked.

 

Gabriel nodded. “Thanks, John.”

 

The look of revulsion that crossed John’s face was nothing compared to the feeling that crawled across Gabriel’s brain.

 

“Jack,” came the verbal correction a split second later.

 

“Jack,” Gabriel dutifully repeated.

“Okay, y’all have seen the show,” Jesse declared loudly as he approached with the thin blanket Jack had earlier discarded. “And you two should stop providin’ a free one,” he murmured as he draped the blanket over Jack’s shoulders.

 

“I’d agree with that assessment if I could move,” Gabriel muttered back at him.

 

“You’re going to owe me for the mental scarring this is going to give me,” Jesse muttered as he grabbed the handles on the back of the chair.

 

“Why? You still owe me for the stains you and Hanzo left in the guest room in Vienna,” Gabriel reminded him.

 

Jack remained silent throughout the trip to Gabriel’s room, but his dick was saying exactly where his thoughts were. Gabriel could feel wetness soaking through his shirt where Jack’s pre-come was dribbling. It was a relief that the trip back to his room was a short one. The door to it swung open to reveal a bed that hadn’t looked so tempting that morning.

 

“You need help getting on the, uh,” Jesse trailed off, looking embarrassed as all fuck.

 

“I’ll do it,” Jack said, glaring daggers at Gabriel’s child. Most days, Jesse would be more than glad to pick the fight Jack was offering him. But relief was the only emotion on his face as he beat a hasty retreat. The instant the door closed behind him, Jack was clambering off Gabriel’s lap.

 

His cock bobbed in the air as he moved. If Gabriel thought it was pretty when Jack was soft, it was nothing compared to him being hard. The fact that it was hard for him and no one else was beyond appealing. Gabriel’s ego was more than flattered.

 

“Come on,” Jack said as he took Gabriel’s hands in his. “Let’s get you on the bed.”

 

Gabriel was more than willing to be a part of that plan, even though he would prefer to be more active in it. He consoled himself with the thought that it would not always be this way. Strength would return to his body once he was claimed and able to regularly feed from his mate. With recovery, he would be able to dust the cobwebs off his sexual prowess.

 

Once Gabriel was settled, Jack stripped Gabriel’s clothing off with efficient hands. “What happened?” he asked, staring at the unhealed wound on Gabriel’s chest.

 

“Hunters,” Gabriel replied.

 

“I hate all of them,” Jack declared as he crawled onto the bed and straddled Gabriel’s hips.

 

“Mmm,” Gabriel hummed as he wrapped a hand around Jack’s cock. “Why don’t you think about something else?”

 

A stuttered breath blew past Jack’s lips, and another burst of pre-come leaked out of his slit. He was close to coming, and Gabriel intended to give his new mate anything he needed. Though it had been years since his last tryst, his thumb knew the right way to rub at the crown of Jack’s dick. His fingers knew the right way to squeeze and stroke until Jack was whining in the back of his throat and his seed was landing on Gabriel’s chest.

 

The pleasure his mate felt, echoed inside Gabriel’s skull. It was a good sign of the strength of their bond to already feel him so clearly, but that didn’t stop him from wanting even more. He ran his fingers over the patches of his mate’s skin that he could reach, and Jack returned the favor.

 

There were more scars than he had anticipated, but he supposed that somebody with Jack’s body and interest in sports had to have gotten himself in trouble a time or two. There was one scar, though, that made Gabriel angry with possessiveness. The bite mark on the right side of Jack’s neck dipped into his collar bone, but it was obviously the work of another vampire.

 

Gabriel hated that scar, hated knowing that had been put there without Jack’s choosing. That his mate had been under the thrall of some lesser vampire who’d only been out for a steady meal.

 

“Are you hungry again?” Jack asked when he noticed Gabriel’s stare. Smarter than he looked, that one.

 

“No,” Gabriel replied. Jack wouldn’t remember his time with the other vampire, or much of his life before. Not until the claiming magic wore off his mind and their bond was securely set between them.

 

“You were bitten by someone who wasn’t me,” Gabriel explained, gesturing to Jack's scar..

 

Jack’s hand left Gabriel’s skin to touch at his own, fingertips following the pattern of the scar easily enough. With ease that said he spent as much time doing yoga as he did weightlifting, he curled down over Gabriel’s body, weight resting on his forearms. The movement caused his position on Gabriel’s lap to change, which was a pity. But it did put Jack’s neck back in biting range.

 

“Make it yours,” Jack said. “Make _me_ yours.”

 

“You’re already mine,” Gabriel reminded him, “but who am I to resist such an offer?” As he sunk his teeth into the offered flesh, Jack let out a gasp that was more pain than pleasure. It was unfortunate, but it had to be done. Gabriel didn’t want his mate to bear another’s mark, and Jack wanted to bear his.

 

Normally, a vampire’s saliva would cover over feeding wounds to make them appear as if nothing had ever happened. Marking was only supposed to happen between the mated, and Gabriel would gladly kill the monster that had done this to his Jack if Amari’s gang of ruffians hadn’t beat him to it.

 

“There,” Gabriel whispered as he pulled away. His bite looked painful, but it had obliterated the mark another had left on Jack’s skin.

 

Jack craned his neck to look at it as well, but Gabriel doubted he could see much without a mirror. “It looks great,” he informed his mate.

 

Jack rolled his eyes. “You’re biased.”

 

“I am,” Gabriel agreed. “But that’s what I’m supposed to be.”

 

Jack sighed and climbed off the bed.

 

“Where are you going?” Gabriel asked. He hated the hint of panic that crept into his voice, and the more than hint of it that he sent surging along their newly developing bond.

 

“To get a warm cloth,” Jack explained, gesturing to the mess he’d made on Gabriel’s chest. The look on his face was teasing, but the soft feeling that trickled into Gabriel’s mind was one of reassurance.

 

Gabriel frowned as Jack walked into the room’s built-in bathroom. He wondered what sort of man, stripped down to his basic self, would feel the need to show a different emotion than he was feeling.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Waking up warm was a luxury comparable with gold, private beaches, and caviar. Jack’s sleeping mind was a buzz in the back of Gabriel’s. With his mate asleep, Gabriel could revel in the existence of their fledgling bond. He’d always laughed at vampires who waxed poetic when claimed, but he was revising his opinion.

 

Even though he barely knew Jack, he felt like he would tear through the whole world if anyone dared to steal him away. Gabriel didn’t pretend to understand how that could be. Then again, he couldn’t find a way to explain the existence of vampires in a mortal world either.

 

A soft knock at the door took him away from contemplating the odd existence of bonds. Instead of Jesse’s shaggy brown head, Angela’s perfectly styled blonde one peaked through the partly open door. “You are awake, good,” she said as she walked into the room.

 

Gabriel bit down the urge to hiss at her and keep her away from what was his.

 

“I know this is going to be difficult for you, Gabriel, but I need to examine John to make certain he is healthy,” Angela explained. “That is if you are still intending to board your flight later this afternoon.”

 

“Why?” Gabriel asked.

 

“I need to make sure his body is replacing his lost blood at a sufficient rate. There is such a thing as overfeeding, even with a mate, and you are a prime candidate for that to happen.” She said the words with clinical efficiency.

 

“What’s going on?” Jack’s voice was morning rough, and Gabriel sorely wished he could make it rough from other activities now that he heard it.

 

“Dr. Ziegler wants to make sure I haven’t broken you,” Gabriel explained.

 

“I’m fine,” Jack said as he sat up to face the doctor.

 

“You have an open wound. You are not fine,” Angela protested, throwing a dirty look in Gabriel’s direction.

 

“It’s fine,” Jack protested. “He didn’t do anything I didn’t want.”

 

Angela didn’t look impressed by Jack’s words. “I know exactly what happened and why it happened. You can spare me the details. However, you still run the risk of getting an infection regardless of the advanced healing properties from a vampire bite.”

 

“Don’t touch me,” Jack growled when Angela took a step towards the bed. A flash of panic and something close to disgust brushed through their bond before confusion overwhelmed it. “I… I’m sorry, I don’t know why…” Jack trailed off.

 

“Please. Do not apologize. You are still in the process of claiming, and it is unnatural to have your bonding time interrupted by another vampire. But I’m afraid circumstances make this necessary,” Angela explained. “If it would make you more comfortable, we can go to another room.”

 

“No! I mean, no thank you. I’m, uh, not sure I want to be away from him right now,” Jack explained.

 

“Of course,” Angela replied. “This won’t take but a few minutes.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Gabriel tried not to snarl as he wheeled his chair inside the plane. He hated the idea of losing his private time with his mate. But he had business to attend to back in Europe, and his claiming was already unconventional. He didn’t have the gifts and trinkets that were normally shared between a new couple during their claiming. And the majority of vampires were never claimed when they were wasted to the point of being on death’s doorstep. What was one more change to tradition among all the others?

 

There were practicalities to consider that outweighed his desire to drag Jack off to the nearest room and bar the doors. He was still Coven Master, and he had responsibilities that went alongside that title. It was an exhausting job, but he enjoyed it. Or he usually enjoyed it, when he wasn’t busy trying to recover his strength so that he could finally fuck his mate.

 

“Could you not think about that,” Jack whispered. “I’d rather not show my dick off to everyone.”

 

Jack had been out of sorts ever since Angela’s visit earlier that day. Every time one of Gabriel’s coven members came near, he would glare at them. It wasn’t a protective or even possessive action either. There was no fragment of those emotions that flickered along their bond. 

 

In truth, Gabriel couldn’t quite identify the emotions that Jack was having. It was probably his fault that Jack was in such a state. Normal mates would screw each other’s brains out for at least a week or two. Lust paved the way for mental bonding as it encouraged openness and a lowering of typical mental shields. As much as Gabriel wanted to have sex, his body wasn’t allowing him to be much of an active participant.

 

He felt stronger than he had in years, but he was still frail. His defensiveness was probably encouraging a similar feeling within his mate. At least, he hoped that was the case. 

 

“Are you okay?” Jack asked as he helped Gabriel into his seat.

 

“I was going to ask you the same question,” Gabriel replied.

 

Jack’s face twisted into an unhappy expression before it smoothed into a neutral one. “I’m fine.”

 

“You aren’t,” Gabriel countered. He tried to push as much empathy and understanding across their bond as he could, only to be met with resistance. It wasn’t quite a wall or a shield, but a filter of sorts. It wouldn’t be unusual for a human that had been bonded for years to have that sort of mental barrier, but it was practically unheard of in regular humans.

 

Gabriel poked at the barrier to test it, but it instantly collapsed under the pressure. A wave of anxiety slammed against their fragile connection, forcing Gabriel to retreat.

 

“Sorry,” Jack said, physical voice almost drowned out by his mental one. “I don’t know why I feel that way. I just… didn’t want to get on the plane.”

 

Gabriel took a slow controlled breath. “You’re not psychic are you?”

 

Jack huffed out a laugh. “Not that I remember. Then again, I don’t remember anything.”

 

“That troubles you,” Gabriel stated, feeling the echo of confirmation push aside the upset Jack was broadcasting. “You know that it’s…”

 

“Not forever. That it’s necessary for the whole bonding thing. That it’s supposed to allow me to let go of my learned behaviors and embrace my true self or what the fuck ever. But I can’t help feeling the way that I do. I don’t feel safe.”

 

Gabriel couldn’t help but feel hurt at Jack’s final words. “You are safe,” he assured him. “I would never let anything happen to you.”

 

Jack snorted. “I may not remember much, but I know that’s not true. Even if you think it is.”

 

“Well, would you believe that your feelings aren’t abnormal?” Gabriel asked. “Some mates are more paranoid than others. In all honesty, it’s not surprising. You chose me, and I’m not just an average vampire. A certain amount of paranoia is good.”

 

Jack sighed and rubbed his hand against the back of his neck, wiping away some tension that Gabriel couldn’t see but could feel. “I suppose you’re right,” he conceded. “I’m just not a fan of this whole process.”

 

“Well, you’d be more of a fan if this ‘whole process’ was working as intended,” Gabriel told him. “Not that I would’ve wanted you to choose somebody else, but you would have been better off picking them.”

 

“I wouldn’t have picked anyone else… I couldn’t have.” Jack shook his head as he spoke, like he couldn’t believe Gabriel would suggest such a thing.

 

If Gabriel was fair to both himself and to Jack, he knew that his mate was right. That was the entire purpose of bonding in the first place. It was supposed to be something especially strong and impossible to break. There were rumors about forged bonds, but those were mostly just rumors. The Lacroix bonding was the only one that Gabriel had ever had reason to doubt, but that was likely just his paranoia talking.

 

“I don’t suppose you know how long your recovery will take,” Jack said.

 

“Getting impatient?” Gabriel teased.

 

Jack’s cheeks flushed faintly even as he shook his head. “Not for that.”

 

Gabriel felt a little tug in the back of his brain that said Jack was lying just a little about that, but he let the sensation go. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t share Jack’s desires. Although they could achieve intimacy and sexual release in other ways, Gabriel still wanted to be inside of him. He wanted to feel the warmth of his mate’s body around his cock.

 

“Again, I don’t want to show my dick off to the entire plane,” Jack reminded him.

 

“Sorry,” Gabriel replied, not one bit repentant. “If it makes you feel any better, none of them are going to come bother us. You could be buck naked, twirling on a stripper pole, and they’d never be the wiser.”

 

“You want me to believe that those security cameras aren’t turned on right now?” Jack asked as he nodded his chin towards an inconspicuous camera.

 

“You noticed those?”

 

“Would I be mentioning them if I hadn’t?” Jack replied.

 

“No,” Gabriel conceded. “It’s just that they’re fairly well hidden. Most people would just overlook them.”

 

“I guess I’m not most people,” Jack said. He stared out the window for a moment before giving himself a visible shake.

 

“You okay?” Gabriel asked.

 

“Yeah. Fine. Just... you know that feeling when you’re trying to remember something, but can’t? I was having one of those moments,” he explained.

 

“Relax,” Gabriel told him. “You’ll have plenty of time to deal with all the baggage of your past when the bonding amnesia wears off. We should enjoy the bliss of ignorance until then.”

 

Jack gave him a smile. “You’re right.”

 

Gabriel tried to ignore the unease that came with Jack’s words.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

There was something comforting about being back in his own bed. Gabriel had never tired of the sensation even though he had changed beds and residences many times. The important thing was that he was home.

 

It was a comfort that disappeared all too quickly. One moment he had his fangs in his mate’s neck. The next moment, Jack was half way across the room, and Gabriel’s head was pounding. Pain was searing through it, barely overridden by the sheer panic in Jack’s mind.

 

Gabriel couldn’t remember the last time he’d caused pain when feeding. It wasn’t something that happened. He was literally centuries beyond making such a mistake. That he’d managed to cause such a reaction in his one and only was most upsetting. He might even become distraught over the idea, but Jack was panicking enough for the both of them.

 

“You need to let me seal that,” Gabriel managed to say.

 

Wide eyes flicked around the room as if Jack didn’t even hear Gabriel speak. His hand was clasped against his neck, but bright red trickles of blood were showing. The wounds weren’t anything life threatening, but they were painful. That much was leaking through their bond.

 

“Jack,” he pitched his voice low, trying to be as soothing as possible, “come here.” All his words did was cause Jack to take a few more steps backwards, putting even more space between them.

 

“Sweetheart, I can’t reach you all the way over there. Remember?” Gabriel hated cooing at his mate like he was some sort of frightened dog, but he was out of other options.

 

A frown flickered across Jack’s face. “Sweetheart?” he snorted, eyes finally focusing in on Gabriel’s face.

 

Relief flooded through Gabriel’s body as Jack seemed to finally come back to the present. “If you don’t like it, you’ll have to come over here to lodge a formal complaint,” he teased, stress still evident in his voice.

 

Shaky footsteps brought Jack back to Gabriel’s bed. The urge to pull at Jack’s warm skin with his hands, to pull his mate back to him was almost overwhelming, but Gabriel knew the value of patience. He didn’t need to be making demands of his mate when Jack was in such a fragile state.

 

A minute passed before Jack’s weight was causing the mattress to dip. He pressed his body back against Gabriel’s and tilted his neck to show off the spot that Gabriel had been feeding from only a few minutes before.

 

All it took was a few swipes of his tongue to make his bite marks disappear as if they had never been there. Gabriel wished that he could say the same of whatever had frightened his mate so.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Gabriel asked softly.

 

Jack bit his lip and stared off into the distance for a few minutes. “There isn’t much to say. I thought you were going to kill me.”

 

A distressed whine came out of Gabriel’s throat at his mate’s words. He didn’t know what to say to that. He wasn’t even sure if he could understand how Jack could think that.

 

“Not you, you,” Jack unhelpfully explained. “Just… I don’t know. A vampire of some sort?”

 

A slow breath came out of Gabriel’s lips as he thought. That wouldn’t be completely abnormal. Amari’s hunting crew had all but destroyed the lesser vampire’s lair before Gabriel had even set foot on American soil, but victims of a thrall weren’t known to have the best of times. Thralls were used to manipulate humans into doing something they couldn’t be conned into doing with more traditional means.

 

Given that Jack had been being used as little more than a feeding station, it was possible that he was having some leftover reactions because of that. It wasn’t unheard of for mates to have some adverse reactions during the bonding period. Most potential mates knew about vampires before the bonding ceremony. They almost had to with the modern way of doing things. It was important that they knew what was going to happen to them before they consented to the bonding ritual.

 

Not all humans got the luxury of having a nice introduction to the world of the supernatural. In fact, most of them didn’t. Vampires were cultured. Living as long as they did meant being exposed to a lot of the world. But they were still vicious by nature. Though human food and drink was delightful, it did nothing to sustain them. Blood was survival.

 

“You know, Dr. Ziegler doesn’t approve of the whole bonding process. She thinks it’s outdated and barbaric,” Gabriel said as he ran his hand over Jack’s side. A brush of inquiry tickled against Gabriel’s mind even though Jack kept silent.

 

“Her views are pretty unpopular. It’s one of the reasons she ended up in my coven in the first place. She’s an advocate for removing the temporary amnesia from the process. That pissed off her old coven master royally.”

 

“So when she got bonded, her mate didn’t do the whole amnesia thing?” Jack asked. He sounded almost jealous, and Gabriel tried not to mirror that emotion.

 

“No. They went the traditional route over the whole thing. There were extenuating circumstances. Fareeha comes from a vampire hunting clan. She was set to be the heir to it until Angela stole her heart away. The whole affair caused quite the stir – especially because Jesse had just taken a hunter as his mate a few years before. We agreed that it would be best for the coven’s political situation if they followed the traditions.”

 

“‘We’ meaning you insisted, and Dr. Ziegler caved to your demands?” Jack asked.

 

Gabriel laughed. It was a rattling sound closer to death than amusement. “I have enough hunters willing to destroy my coven for the tiniest of perceived slights. I don’t need other covens against us.”

 

“I suppose that makes sense,” Jack conceded. “So I take it that Dr. Ziegler hasn’t had the chance to test out her theory?”

 

Gabriel shook his head. “No. Jesse probably would’ve been for it, but Hanzo is a stickler for tradition even if it isn’t his own. It’s good that he chose Jesse as his. They balance each other out.”

 

“Unlike us,” Jack commented.

 

“Hey,” Gabriel replied, “we’re who we’re supposed to be.”

 

Jack snorted. “I’m not stupid. I hear what your coven says about me. I might not remember being some boring jock with a meaningless life, but I can hear the gossip about it.”

 

Gabriel paused for a moment to choose his reply. “I don’t deny that I was surprised by your choice. We don’t have a lot in common on paper beyond our good looks. Well, your good looks anyway. I promise that I’m better looking when I’m not on the brink of death.”

 

“You’re fine,” Jack assured him. “What I said at the claiming ceremony was just me…”

 

“Being honest,” Gabriel interrupted. “You don’t have to lie to me about it. I know what I looked like then, and I know that the only reason you have a physical interest in me at all is the pull of the bond, and your body churning out hormones because of it. It’s okay. That’s supposed to happen.”

 

“It’s not a nice thing to say even if it is true,” Jack pointed out.

 

There was a knock at the door as Jack finished speaking. “Y’all decent in there?” Jesse’s muted voice followed shortly after it.

 

“Just a minute,” Jack called back. He rolled out of bed and pulled Gabriel’s robe onto his shoulders before walking towards the bedroom door to unlock it. Gabriel was already covered by his blankets, so he didn’t have much to do other than admire the way his mate’s body moved.

 

“How are you feelin’?” Jesse asked as he came into the room. His eyes glanced over Jack’s neck, no doubt cataloguing the remnants of blood clinging to it. He didn’t display any outward signs of worry, but Jesse was good at hiding his feelings.

 

“Better than I have in decades,” Gabriel answered honestly. Even with the difficulties he and Jack had been having, he felt wonderful. Part of it was the strength returning to his body. Another part, no matter how sappy it sounded, was finally having a mate choose him. There was something immensely gratifying about getting Jack’s attention and affection.

 

“And how about you, Jack? You settling in okay?” Jesse asked.

 

Jack flushed a crimson color. “Fine,” he stuttered out.

 

“Oh, hey now. No need to be embarrassed. I don’t want to know about what you two’ve been doing in here. I don’t need to know about nobody’s sex life but my own,” Jesse said.

 

“Is there a reason you’re here?” Gabriel asked when it became apparent that Jack wasn’t going to respond to Jesse.

 

Jesse rocked back on his heels and smiled. “As a matter of fact, there is. Seems that word has gotten around to the other covens that you’ve finally gotten yourself mated. I’ve been turning away well-wishers all morning. There’s a heap of presents piling up for your two as well. Now, normally I wouldn’t intrude on a couple’s bonding time, but I thought it might do you two some good to get out of this room for a bit.”

 

“Presents? Like some sort of wedding gift type thing?” Jack asked.

 

“Eh, close enough,” Jesse replied. “Though there’s a lot more political schemes attached to these than there is in a regular wedding. There were a lot of coven masters circling, waiting for Gabriel here to kick the bucket. Now that he ain’t, they want to make sure he’s not mad at them.”

 

“Oh.” Jack looked at Gabriel and raised his eyebrows in question.

 

“We might as well start looking through them at least. Have them taken to the balcony that overlooks the garden. Might as well enjoy the view while we’re doing it. And have some food brought there too. Jack’s hungry,” Gabriel ordered. It was worth the burst of irritation he felt from his mate.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Jack asked for what felt like the fiftieth time in an hour. He’d probably only asked that question twice, but the constant influx of worry along their bond made it feel much more constant. Whatever Jack did or did not remember from his past, the trope of vampires and sunlight was firmly embedded into his mind.

 

It wasn’t as if it was a baseless worry. Sunlight could be damaging to a vampire in poor health, and Gabriel was one such vampire. But vampire medicine had improved alongside human medicine over the years. The skin cream slathered onto Gabriel’s body was enough to prevent him from getting the mildest of sunburns let alone any lasting damage.

 

They wouldn’t even be out in direct sunlight all that much.  Between the awnings, plants, and umbrellas set up, they’d be in shade more than in the sun. But nothing Gabriel said about it seemed to ease Jack’s worries.

 

“You need to relax,” Gabriel said as Jack pushed them through the hallways. “This is supposed to be a fun activity, remember? Presents are a good thing.”

 

“I’d believe you if your second in command hadn’t explicitly mentioned political ties when he talked about this earlier,” Jack grumbled in return. “My memory isn’t that bad.”

 

“Your memory isn’t bad at all,” Gabriel reminded him. “This is normal. You’ll have your memories back soon.”

 

“I thought normal was us screwing each other on every available surface,” Jack countered. “And I’m not so sure I want my memories back.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“You have to ask that question? After my little episode this morning? If reactions like that is what I have to look forward to, maybe I’m better off just being how I am now.” The wheelchair picked up speed as Jack spoke. Frustration mingled with worry along their bond.

 

“I don’t think permanent amnesia is a good idea,” Gabriel said with a smile. “And when you have yours back, you’ll agree with me. The situation you came out of wasn’t exactly ideal. Your experience today was upsetting, but there are other memories in that head of yours that are happy ones. I’m sure of it.”

 

A hum of consideration came from Jack. “I suppose that I probably have family or friends that are missing me.”

 

“There usually are,” Gabriel told him. “In your case, I imagine that they’ll be somewhat upset with you as you’ve been gone for a while. Family usually doesn’t like you disappearing on them.”

 

“Something to look forward to,” Jack said sarcastically. “I assume that you’ll help me out with what to say? Or do I tell them all that I’ve psychically bonded to a vampire sugar daddy?”

 

Gabriel laughed and tried not to bask in the somewhat lighter mood in their bond. “We have some explanations we use depending on the situation. We usually have Angela write up a medical report. You say you went out for a night on the town, got in an accident of sorts, and couldn’t contact anyone for a while because you weren’t conscious.”

 

“That’s a terrible lie, and manipulative as fuck.” Jack didn’t sound very impressed with the plan.

 

“Manipulative, yes. Terrible, not so much. It’s had a fairly good success rate over the years. Besides, there aren’t many other options,” Gabriel pointed out. “There are only so many ways you can believably sell your story without looking like an absolutely terrible person.”

 

“I suppose,” Jack agreed with little enthusiasm. “I’m guessing the whole new boyfriend thing will be a bigger concern. Especially given that you look the way that you do.”

 

“There is that. We’ll have to figure out logistics once you get your memories back.” Thankfully, their conversation was cut short as they reached the balcony. Gabriel was learning that his mate was a worrier by nature. His need to take immediate action was exhausting. Instinct demanded that Gabriel do whatever he could to take care of Jack’s needs, but there wasn’t anything to do.

 

Hopefully the opening presents would distract his mate from thinking too hard about their impending familial issues. There would be plenty of time to think about those. If nothing else, the food would distract Jack from his worries for a bit. Jack’s stomach was growling loud enough for Gabriel to hear it.

 

“Hey there,” Jesse greeted them. He had a stack of cards set out before him on the round table that had been set up right outside the glass doors that separated the room from the balcony. Next to him, Hanzo was also flipping through various greeting cards, though his pile was significantly larger. Paperwork was not Jesse’s forte. Truth be told, it wasn’t Gabriel’s either. He wondered if it was wrong to hope that Jack had more of an appetite for that type of work.

 

“Hi,” Jack answered as he wheeled Gabriel up to the table.

 

“Greetings,” Hanzo said, eyes flicking up to Gabriel’s face. “You are looking better.”

 

“So he is,” Jesse agreed. “Might even have a spot of color in your cheeks and everything.”

 

“Bullshit,” Gabriel rejoined. “I look just as much like death as I did yesterday.”

Jack snorted and wandered off to where an impromptu buffet has been set up on an antique sideboard. If there was one benefit to being a centuries old vampire, it was the outstanding collection of antiques. It was easy to stockpile valuable collectables when one was alive when they were new. The money was also nice. It afforded the opportunity to hire live-in chefs to prepare the food that Jack was currently piling onto his plate.

 

“How’re things going?” Jesse asked in a low voice, tilting his head in Jack’s direction.

 

“I can hear you, you know,” Jack said as he balanced a roll on top of a truly astounding pile of bacon and eggs.

 

“Fine,” Gabriel answered, voice tight. He really didn’t want Jesse and Jack to start fighting. It wasn’t unheard of for one’s child, especially one’s heir, to object to their sire’s mate. The typical reason was a struggle over power. Mates were considered equal in stature. Some children found this unappealing, especially as those mates were sometimes centuries younger than they were.

 

“If by fine you mean that I broke your nose this morning, then yeah. We’re fine,” Jack said as he plopped down in a chair next to Gabriel.

 

Jesse frowned, and Hanzo arched a single inquiring eyebrow.

 

“I healed almost instantly,” Gabriel informed them. “Besides, it wasn’t Jack’s fault.”

 

“Ain’t many ways you can break a man’s nose without it being your fault,” Jesse drawled.

 

“There were extenuating circumstances,” Gabriel argued.

 

“What he means is that I freaked out and punched him before running off to cower in the corner of the room.” Jack spread jam onto his toast like he didn’t care, but Gabriel could practically feel the way his heart was pounding through the anxiety coming off him. Brave but not fearless.

 

“Well, happens to the best of us,” Jesse said as he leaned back in his chair. If there was a reason that Gabriel had bit him in the first place, it was that Jesse was an excellent judge of character. He was a card shark as well as a cowboy. He had to see Jack’s tension. That he was choosing to relax instead of push into that tension said that he was trying to make friends with Gabriel’s mate.

 

Hanzo cleared his throat. “If you are all done posturing with each other and talking about private issues,” he paused to give a disappointed look at all of them, “there is a letter that you might be interested in reading.”

 

A cream colored envelope was slid across the table as if Hanzo did not want to touch it any longer than necessary. When Gabriel caught sight of the return address on it, he knew why. The Lacroix coven had been in existence even longer than the Reyes coven. It was steeped in old blood, old money, and tradition.

 

They’d been the first to circle Gabriel’s coven when word leaked out that he could no longer eat. They’d been positioning for a takeover for years. Though Gabriel’s core members would not abandon his heir, there were plenty of lesser ranking vampires who would gladly follow whatever master they could if it meant being a member of a powerful clan. Jesse had reason to hate them, nearly everyone did.

 

Amélie Lacroix was young for a vampire. Barely even ninety years old, it was nearly unheard of for someone so young to become a Coven Master. But that was not why other clans viewed her with suspicious eyes. Amélie had never been destined to be a vampire at all, but a mate.

 

When she bonded to Gérard, there had been widespread rejoicing. Lacroix was an honorable and generous coven. They treated their friends with precious gifts and their enemies with stone fists. Their generosity was met with the generosity of the covens they associated with.

 

Once their bond had settled, Gérard had thrown a party that was talked about for weeks afterwards. It was quite the affair. People had spoken about their mating as if it was a fairy tale. Unfortunately for Gérard, it was about as short as one.

 

Hunter clans and vampire covens had never been on especially solid ground with one another. How could they when the entire purpose of a hunter clan was to exterminate vampires? But both sides understood that dragging their fight out into the public eye would bring nothing but chaos. Widespread panic wasn’t beneficial to either side.

 

So they began to make truces with each other. Hunters would only hunt down vampires that broke the rules of the truce. Vampires would police their own, and hunters would respect their right to punish their own kind. In return, vampires would not seek out revenge for their fallen. If a hunter decided to take care of a situation, there would be no retribution from any coven.

 

It was an imperfect solution, but it was the best that they had. The Lacroix Coven was often the representative sent to renew this truce simply because of their status. And if there was a match for their status among the hunter clans, it had been the Morrison Clan. They had been revered as almost supernatural in their hunting. There were rumors that they used old magics to aid their hunting.

 

More than that, they were mean. One of the first things that Gabriel’s father had taught him was, “Do not tangle with a Morrison. If you see one of them coming for you, you run. If they ask you for something, you give it to them. I will not have my family line end because you thought you could outsmart one of them, Gabriel.”

 

The Morrison Clan had been infamous for their decision to abstain from voting on each new truce. They neither sided for or against the papers, and used that indecision to justify themselves whenever they stepped over the boundaries set up by the agreement. So when they agreed to host the annual truce signing, it had been quite the shock.

 

Joseph Morrison, or Joe as he liked to be called, was the new leader of his clan. They said that he was softer than his father had been. They said that he was more open minded and didn’t view all vampires as a scourge to be exterminated. They were wrong.

 

Few vampires survived the blood bath that the Morrisons created. Almost all of Gérard’s highest ranking coven members were murdered before they even got their fangs out. None of the Morrisons lived. In the ultimate battle of vampire versus hunter, the vampires came out victorious.

 

But Gérard ended up being one of the victims. In a last ditch attempt to save his mate, he turned her. It was anathema to do such a thing. Mates were not meant to be turned, but he turned his beloved Amélie. She was the first and only vampire he had ever turned, making her the heir to the Lacroix Clan.

 

Many former friends abandoned them. Those who didn’t paid a higher price as Amélie stole from their clans to strengthen her own. She was harder than her mate could be. The warm, shy woman she was as a human all but disappeared once she became a vampire…

 

“Gabe? You okay?” Jack asked.

 

Gabriel frowned down at the envelope that still lay unopened in his hands. “Yeah. Sorry. I was just caught up in my thoughts.

 

“I could tell,” Jack said softly. “If we keep getting lost inside our heads, your coven is going to be in trouble.”

 

“Do I have to separate you two? You’re looking at each other like lovesick teenagers, and I don’t wanna lose my breakfast,” Jesse teased.

 

“Hush,” Hanzo censored his mate. “Let them be soft.”

 

Jack’s face turned scarlet, and he seemed to find the contents of his plate extremely fascinating.

 

“You know, I don’t recall you letting anyone get away with calling you ‘Gabe,’” Jesse continued, ignoring Hanzo’s judgmental glare in his direction.

 

“Perhaps you should read the letter,” Hanzo suggested the instant Jesse stopped talking.

 

Forcing his fingers to move, Gabriel opened the envelope. “Jack is different,” he said as he unfolded the expensive stationary. If he was honest with himself, he was only dignifying Jesse’s taunts with a response because he didn’t want to read the letter inside the expensive card Amélie had sent him.

 

The words written in her flowing script were unsurprising. There were congratulations, platitudes, and well wishes. All of them were lies. She was buying time to regroup. Perhaps she was even looking to reestablish contact. Whatever her motivations, they were self-centered and self-serving.

 

“She sent a gift as well,” Hanzo informed him when Gabriel folded the letter back into the card.

 

“Oh?” he asked.

 

“Yeah,” Jesse agreed. “And you aren’t going to believe what it is.” He pushed his chair out from the table and negotiated his way behind what looked like a wall of presents. “It wasn’t wrapped. I think that she wanted to make sure that everyone saw what she sent. Probably part of her constant politicking.”

 

In Jesse’s hands was a sword. Its double-edged blade was gilded with a thin layer of rose gold that looked as if it had only been applied yesterday. Its hilt boasted a dark blue leather grip, and an unmistakable crest that was set with sapphires and blue topaz. The Morrison Clan sword was a trophy that Amélie had taken from the battle with the clan. For years, it had sat displayed on a mantle in her home.

 

That sword had taken the head off Gabriel’s grandfather. It had given Jesse the thick scar that surrounded his arm – a scar that was only there because Angela had been quick at reattaching the limb when it was severed. In books, a sword that had changed the destiny of so many covens would have a name. Reality was no different though it was less romantic sounding.

 

“The Coven Killer,” Gabriel said as Jesse handed him the blade.

 

“Always hated that name,” Jesse grumbled.

 

Gabriel pulled the sword partway out of its sheath. The blade was still sharp and free of rust. Regardless of her feelings towards the blade, Amélie had kept it in good condition. She’d also kept up the tradition of repairing the gilding on the edge as there was no nicks on its finish from dealing the lethal blow to Gérard.

 

 “This sword has an accurate name,” he reminded Jesse. “You do not know the friends and enemies this blade has taken from me. It had slain hundreds before you took your first human breath.” 

 

“Perhaps we should move on to more pleasant matters,” Hanzo suggested. “There are other gifts that are not so morbid. I am fairly certain there is at least one toaster in this tower of gifts. I believe that Jesse mentioned wanting to steal it from you.”

 

“The crest on it is magnificent,” Jack observed.

 

Blinking his eyes, Gabriel tried to hide how startled he was by Jack’s voice. He hadn’t realized until that moment how silent Jack had become. The buzz of anxiety that had been filling up their bond had just disappeared leaving almost nothing in its wake.

 

The filter from the plane was back in place, almost stronger than it was before. When Gabriel pushed against it this time, it did not break or sway under the pressure. In fact, Jack didn’t even seem to realize that Gabriel was trying to reach him.

 

Seemingly transfixed by the sword, he reached out to run his fingertips over its hilt. The movement was careful like Jack was touching the finest crystal instead of a metal weapon that had murdered more than its fair share of vampires.

 

Suddenly, the blade was yanked away from both Gabriel’s grasp and Jack’s touch. “Okay, I don’t know what the fuck is with this thing, but I am officially calling it cursed,” Jesse said as he marched back over to its earlier hiding place.

 

Hanzo let out a long-suffering sigh. “Curses don’t exist, Jesse.”

 

“And according to most of the world, vampires don’t exist. Yet here I am,” Jesse argued. “That blade is hypnotic or something. Maybe it’s got some sort of drug it emits or whatever.”

 

“As much as I enjoy your outlandish theories on the blade,” Angela interrupted as she swept into the room that adjoined the balcony, “It’s probably just Jack’s brain playing tricks with him as it attempts to recover his memories. Remember when Fareeha spent an entire day fixated on playing solitaire? This tradition of ours is less than perfect when it comes to the human psyche.”

 

“So you keep telling all of us,” Jesse remarked, opinion of her constant lecturing clear in his tone. “You coming out here for a reason, Doc?”

 

“I heard that Gabriel had finally emerged from his bedroom, and thought this might be a good time to check up on him,” she informed them.

 

“Did you just poke Jack a few days ago? You saw me then,” Gabriel complained.

 

“I did, but that was checking on Jack. I wanted to make certain that your recovery was going smoothly. I know that regular feedings are wonderful, but the positive benefits of them can mask other symptoms,” Angela informed him. “Especially if there are complications with the bonding.” She shot a knowing look at Jack as she moved to Gabriel’s side.

 

“Did you tell her?” Gabriel questioned Jesse.

 

“Me?” Jesse replied with an overly dramatic hand on his chest. “You know I ain’t no snitch, especially not to doctors who are hellbent on breaking good, solid traditions.”

 

“Jesse, now is not the time to start an argument,” Hanzo warned, but Angela seemed to ignore them in favor of pulling out her stethoscope to listen to Gabriel’s heartbeat.

 

“Isn’t she supposed to ask permission or at least do this somewhere private?” Jack objected. He still sounded off.

 

“See? Jack agrees with me,” Jesse crowed. “Maybe you should consider the feelings of his _mate_ , Angie.”

 

“Tsk. You are so childish, Jesse. Quit putting ideas that I’m some sort of monster into Jack’s head. This is just a simple checkup to make certain that Gabriel’s recovery is on track. I’m considering the feelings of his mate by not interrupting their personal time together any more than is necessary. A consideration, I might add, that you have not given them,” Angela pointed out.

 

“Enough!” Gabriel roared. “You two need to stop this needless bickering. I know you are both expressing your personal concern over my wellbeing in your own ways, but you need to stop.”

 

Angela’s eyes suddenly found her medical bag fascinating while Jesse looked downwards and his fingers twitched like they were playing with the brim of his absent hat. A hint of amusement started trickling along Gabriel’s bond, and an image of Angela and Jesse as contrite school children flashed behind his eyes before disappearing. A glance at Jack showed that he had a slight smile twisting on his lips.

 

“Well, shall we continue going through these letters?” Hanzo proposed. “I would like to be done with this activity before midnight.”


	2. Jack

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Jack**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

He was drowning. All around him were the sounds of footsteps squelching in the blood that covered the floor. To his right was the disgusting sounds of a vampire sucking blood out of a newly dead corpse. To his left was the whimpering of somebody who would soon join the person on his right.

 

As quietly as he could, he took in tiny sips of air. There was a body on top of his, smothering him. Its blood dripping down onto his face. Every breath brought more and more of it inside of him, but he dared not make a sound. _They_ were still present, and they weren’t done killing yet.

 

The tip of a sword scratched at his chest every time he took a breath. It was impaled through the body on top of his, had caused that person's death. It was his father’s sword.

 

The clacking sound of high heels made their way over to where he was hiding. Although he tried to calm himself, his heart raced. The body crushing him lifted ever so slightly before collapsing against him again, pushing what little breath he had out of him. The wet sound of the sword pulling out of the body echoed above everything else.

 

Miraculously, he went unnoticed. The high heels moved away from his position as quickly as they had reached it. No more or less hurried than they had been before.

 

“You killed my boys,” a man’s broken voice cried. “You killed them.”

 

“Quit sniveling,” a woman’s voice ordered. “You will join them soon enough, and then there will be no more of you pests to cry over each other like spoiled children.”

 

“Fucking kill me then,” the man snarled. “Kill me like you killed your own mate, you sadistic piece of shit.”

 

“Hmpf. With pleasure.”

 

With a silent gasp, Jack lurched upright. The bedroom was still dark, only lit by the moonlight filtering in through the gaps in the curtains. His stomach rolled as he stumbled out of the bed and ran to the master bathroom.

 

Vomiting into a thousand-dollar toilet was no better of an experience than heaving into a dirty public restroom toilet. But even the wretched taste of vomit couldn’t erase the phantom taste of blood from his tongue. Thoughts and visions of that long ago night tried to force their way back into his head no matter how hard he tried to push them out.

 

Looking into the mirror of the sink was a mistake. The now scarred over bite mark was starkly highlighted against his pale, clammy skin. With horrified fingers, Jack traced the outline of the mark. Now that he could remember getting the original mark, the sight of it filled him with fury instead of pleasure.

 

One of Lacroix’s minions had fed from him before they’d stabbed him and left him for dead. As third of three sons, he hadn’t been worth Amélie’s care. She’d only wanted her newly formed fangs to feed from the best, and Jack wasn’t the best. She bit his oldest brother first while her cronies made their father watch. When she was done, she’d torn his throat out with her teeth.

 

In that instant, Jack had seen his brother die and their father shatter. He’d never thought anything could make Joe Morrison crumble, but the loss of Alan had done it. Jack had been next on the agenda, Amélie goading her cronie on from the sidelines. He’d done a poor job of it, but thankfully nobody had ever bothered to check if he was still breathing. They’d run Steven through with the family sword and dumped his corpse on top of Jack. Then they’d…

 

Jack shook his head and stomped out of the bathroom, trying to find anything to get his mind off the horrific scenes his brain insisted on replaying. He stalked across the thick carpeting of the bedroom to the curtains he’d glanced at when he’d awoken. They covered a set of glass doors that led out to a small balcony. It wasn’t nearly as large as the one that overlooked the garden, but was roomy enough for a couple of chairs to sit comfortably on it.

 

The chairs were ignored in favor of the railing. The cool air of the night did little to calm Jack’s racing heart, but he tried to focus on the sounds of nighttime insects and birds instead of the sounds his memories wanted to replay. Staring up at the silver brightness of the moon helped to wash away the red blood that wanted to cover his sight.

 

“Jack?” a sleep filled voice groaned from inside the bedroom. Trickles of another consciousness started brushing against Jack’s mind.  Gabriel, of course, had been in Jack’s head ever since he had woken up, but he’d been a muted presence.

 

Without a conscious thought, Jack slammed his mental shields up. His mother had taught him different techniques since he was old enough to talk. They’d all known about the dangers of being thralled by a vampire. The older they were, the more powerful their mental powers became. Although Gabriel had not spoken of it, he probably had at least a superficial bond with every member of his coven that would enable him to pull strength from them at a moment’s notice.

 

That bond wasn’t the same kind that he had with Jack. No. Their… their mating bond was terrifyingly strong.  Shit. Hunter clans knew that there was some sort of connection between vampires and their bonded, but they’d never known the details. Vampires were crafty enough to keep knowledge of both their rituals and the nature of their mating out of the hands of hunter clans for centuries.

 

It was the entire reason Jack had volunteered to pose as John Mabry in the first place. Ana and Genji were both furious over what they viewed as the manipulation of their daughter and brother. When they discovered that Jack had a passing resemblance to the human they’d just rescued, it was easy to make the decision to replace him with Jack. A few fake social media accounts later, and Jack was infiltrating one of the oldest and most powerful covens on Earth.

 

The shuffling sound of footsteps announced that Gabriel had gotten out of bed. He appeared seconds later, gray skin making him look even more terrifying than he normally did. But he was no longer skeletal in appearance, and he was strong enough to move on his own power however slowly he did it. Eyes that were once terrifyingly red, with streaks of sickly yellow were now a beautiful shade of mahogany. That was Jack’s doing.

 

A shiver rolled up his spine that wasn’t completely disgust. He wanted sex and craved intimacy with the monster before him. Though he hated himself for it, he wanted to bare his neck and feed Gabriel until he was strong and healthy. Some primal part of his brain said that this creature was his, and he should nurture it. Give it access to his blood, body, and mind.

 

“What’re you doing out here?” Gabriel rasped. “Another bad dream?”

 

Unable to form a reply and uncertain of what his lips would say if he event could, Jack simply nodded.

 

Gabriel made a sympathetic noise. “You should come back inside. It’s freezing out here.”

 

“It’s not that cold,” Jack managed to reply. He wondered that he was acting so calmly. That he was managing small talk with a vampire that had been at war with Jack’s clan since before he was even born.

 

“Jackie, come on,” Gabriel coaxed, holding out his hand.

 

A stray whisper of question brushed against Jack’s mental block. It was something Gabriel had done a hundred times over the past two weeks. Whenever Jack’s mind would instinctually raise his mental blocks, Gabriel would start to prod at their connection. He seemed to prefer it being constantly open.

 

Jack did not share this preference. He put his hand into Gabriel’s in the hopes that it would distract him from poking at Jack’s mental block. The feel of his skin was electrifying. The bond pulsed like a living thing inside of Jack’s brain, wanting to reconnect with its other half. Jack ignored the urge.

 

Instead, he allowed Gabriel to lead him back to the bed. It took very little encouragement on Gabriel’s part to get Jack to curl against him the same as they had been doing for what felt like ages now. The lips that pressed against Jack’s forehead were tender.

 

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Gabriel whispered.

 

Jack closed his eyes and answered honestly. “I don’t think I can.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The feeling of lips caressing his neck dragged Jack from his slumber. Cracking open his eyes revealed nothing but an up close view of the sheets and part of Gabriel’s shoulder. But it was a better lit view of those sheets than the last time he’d been awake, so it was safe to assume that it was morning.

 

“Good morning,” Gabriel huffed into the skin he’d just been kissing.

 

That he didn’t ask about the previous night was unsurprising. Jack had been having a lot of nightmares lately. They’d both learned to work around them and chalked them up to an encounter with a vampire that Jack had never had.

 

“Morning,” he replied, trying to ignore the way his cock was already hard.

 

The prick of fangs going into his neck wasn’t surprising. Morning feedings had been daily occurrences ever since they’d gotten to Gabriel’s estate. What was surprising was the curl of foreign satisfaction seeping into his mind.

 

The feeling was Gabriel’s, which meant that Jack’s shields had lowered during the night and let him back in. They should not have done that. They hadn’t done that since Jack was ten and mastered the art of mental blocking. He’d been so good at it that people had called him a protégé. Either his skills were rusty because of the weird amnesia ritual, or his subconscious had already accepted Gabriel as non-threatening.

 

The fangs slipped out of Jack’s neck for a second, and Gabriel moved so that he could look at Jack’s face. “What are you thinking about? Your mind is a million miles away.”

 

Unable to raise his shields without being suspicious, but glad that he hadn’t been projecting his thoughts, Jack opted to give a somewhat embarrassed smile. “I was thinking about all those cars you have in the garage and how I haven’t gotten the chance to drive one of them yet.”

 

Gabriel rolled his eyes, and said, “I should’ve expected this from you,” before moving back to Jack’s neck to finish feeding.

 

The second bite was a bit more jarring than the first. It felt blindingly good. Pleasure zinged through Jack’s veins, and a moan came out of his throat. Gabriel responded to his obvious desires, and slipped a hand around his cock.

 

Before he really knew what was happening, Jack was coming into that hand, body and bond satiated.

 

“You look good with that look on your face,” Gabriel purred. “I can’t wait to put it there in other ways.”

 

Jack’s cock twitched hopefully at the words. He wondered what the hell he’d gotten himself into.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Life around Gabriel’s mansion was interesting. While the Reyes Coven hadn’t had many dealings with the Morrison Clan, there were still a few faces that Jack remembered from his childhood. Angela Ziegler had been a hot topic of conversation between his father and grandfather. They’d argued over whether or not her exceptional breakthroughs in vampire medicine meant that she was a threat that needed to be eliminated. Jack had seen her picture thrown around during those arguments enough to remember her.

 

Jesse McCree’s face had been taught to him as part of his standard training. Understanding the different covens and their leaders was important to the Morrison Clan’s training. Other hunter clans might have only cared about catching wayward vampires, but Morrisons knew that politics and death went hand in hand.

 

As Jack’s grandfather used to say, “If you catch a coven master or their heir doing something killable, that’s license to kill the whole goddamned coven.” Jack’s father had disagreed with the morality of this statement, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true. 

 

There were a few vampires from the clan that Jack had met or at least seen in person before. Funnily enough, Gabriel was one of them. He’d come to file a complaint about something that had happened between their clan and his coven. Jack had been too young to participate in their discussion over it, but the promise of seeing a vampire in person was more than he could bear.

 

Vampires didn’t often physically come to meetings with clans, especially when they were meeting over a disagreement. They preferred to use technology to do the talking for them. It was safer that way.

 

Jack didn’t remember what the disagreement was over.  Probably not Jesse’s arm as that had happened before Jack had been born. Whatever it was had been unimportant to Jack’s younger self. What had been important was the imposing way that Gabriel spoke. The swirl of his long, black jacket and the haughty, almost sneering look on his face when he spoke to Jack’s grandfather.

 

Imposing, regal, powerful: Jack remembered those thoughts flashing through his brain when he’d first set eyes on Gabriel Reyes. Now that he was older, his memory could see the beauty his ten-year-old eyes had missed. The cut of his jaw, the arch of his brow, the slope of his nose: those were what caught Jack’s attention now. The scars on Gabriel’s face were unimportant details compared to the way his umber colored skin seemed to luminesce as if the sun itself had blessed it.

 

The truth was that Jack knew exactly what Gabriel Reyes looked like when he wasn’t withering away. Which made it difficult to fake surprise when Gabriel decided to show him pictures. They were reminders of details already knew.   

 

“You’re not impressed,” Gabriel pouted.

 

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Jack hedged, “I already knew you couldn’t have looked like this for all your life.”

 

“A little enthusiasm for my good looks would be nice. You did call me ‘hideous’ after all,” Gabriel grumbled.

 

“For the last time, I was under your weird vampire mojo,” Jack explained, “I wasn’t in control of my mouth. I thought that was the whole point of that stupid ritual.”

 

“‘Stupid ritual’?” Gabriel moaned. “Please tell me that you’re not siding with Angela on this.”

 

“How is my opinion a surprise?” Jack asked. “You literally told me about her perspective because I was concerned about it!”

 

“I wanted to make you feel better, not encourage you to support her campaign.”

 

Jack stared at him for a long moment. “You’re being ridiculous. What difference does it make if I agree or don’t agree with a ritual I will never participate in again?”

 

“It matters because you’re my mate, and your opinion will eventually be as powerful as my own,” Gabriel explained.

 

“They won’t matter right now though,” Jack pointed out.

 

Gabriel exhaled slowly. “Okay. Fine. If you hadn’t been subjected to the normal bonding ritual, you wouldn’t have chosen me. I don’t like that idea, and I don’t like the idea that this could happen to others.”

 

“You don’t know that,” Jack said as he placed his hand on Gabriel’s knee, giving in to the urge to comfort and reassure him.

 

The look on Gabriel’s face said that he might want to argue that point, but he held his tongue. “Let’s talk about something else,” he suggested.

 

“Okay. Like what? You want to talk about favorite movies?”

 

“Nothing quite so superficial, unfortunately. We should have a plan for when your memories return,” Gabriel explained.

 

“I thought we weren’t talking about that right now,” Jack nervously replied.

 

“It’s not the same topic even if it is related,” Gabriel defended himself. “Some mates have issues when the amnesia wears off. They’re upset, frightened, or worse. We should think about setting something comfortable up for you, creating a space that’s yours and makes you feel safe.”

 

It was a sweet sentiment. Jack half-wished that Gabriel had brought this up before his memories had actually comeback so that he could bask in how nice the gesture was. “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” he opted to say.

 

“No offense, but you have a lot of nightmares about what happened to you before. I don’t think you’ll be as okay as you think. Let me do this for you,” Gabriel implored.

 

“Okay,” Jack said. He felt like an utter asshole saying it, but what else could he do? He couldn’t exactly tell Gabriel that he was from a hunter clan that everyone thought was dead and had infiltrated his coven on the behalf of Ana fucking Amari.

 

“Good,” Gabriel said, a smile coming to his face.

 

Jack hated how much he liked seeing that smile.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

If somebody had explained to Jack how vampire bonding worked before he went through the experience, he would have laughed at them. To choose a life partner in one night was preposterous beyond belief. But to develop an intense, deep, almost spiritual connection to a vampire over the course of two months was ridiculous.

 

Yet two months was the standard time frame for recovering memories in bonded couples. During that time, they developed the knowledge and understanding of each other that normal human couples would spend a year building. As much as parts of Jack wished otherwise, he found himself developing more than a fondness for Gabriel.

 

It wasn’t just the constant sexual urge he had towards him either. Gabriel’s fierce devotion to his coven, his tactical mind, and the sort of gentleness that rested beneath everything he did: they were all very appealing traits. He was the sort of man Jack would have pursued had he met him in a bar. And if Jack ever took time off from his quest for vengeance to have meaningful relationships. And if Gabriel was human.

 

Jack shook his head. The ‘what ifs’ didn’t matter. What mattered was that living with somebody inside of his head for over two months meant that he understood Gabriel more than he had ever understood anyone in his life. This was how he knew that Gabriel was growing ever more concerned that Jack wasn’t recovering his memories.

 

He could feel Gabriel’s concern, but he could also read it in his actions. He knew the meaning behind Gabriel’s worried glances and constant inquiries into how Jack was feeling. The problem was that Jack had no idea how to fake the return of his memories.

 

Should he throw up? Even if he did that, what was his next move? There was no family he could contact to sell his story of being in a coma at a hospital. His family was dead, and calling Ana Amari or any of her hunters would be disastrous.

 

Thoughts of Ana never failed to make Jack feel guilty. She had taken him in when he showed up, claiming to be a self-taught hunter whose family had been killed by rogue vampires. The story had been close enough to the truth for Jack to sell the lie. Every clan knew that taking in self-taught hunters was a gamble. If they weren’t the kind of fools who would disobey the rules, they were the kind of idiots who rushed into situations and got themselves killed.

 

Ana had accepted Jack though, just like she had taken in Hanzo and Genji. Jack liked to think that he had repaid her kindness by being an excellent hunter. But he knew the truth. He’d used her as much as he’d helped her. Ever since his family had been massacred, he’d been focused on nothing but revenge.

 

Skills were honed and information hoarded. When Ana asked for opinions on what target to track down next, Jack always had a Lacroix associate ready on his lips. Amélie Lacroix had murdered her own husband, slaughtered his family, and ruined their good name. If it was the last thing he ever did, he was going to kill her.

 

The family sword that now hung in Gabriel’s study was taunting him. With a little bit of digging, he could probably find Amélie’s address. It would be a simple matter to take the sword and use one of Gabriel’s bank accounts to get him to her front door so he could murder everyone inside just like she’d done to his family.

 

But Jack knew that it was a terrible plan. Charging into an unknown situation was inviting death. Even if he did succeed in taking Amélie’s head off her shoulders, that would do nothing to absolve his family name. No. For that he needed a third party witness. His word versus Amélie’s was worthless. Hunters would take his side, vampires would take hers. A war would break out.

 

Those odds might not have bothered him a few months ago. What did he care if hunters and vampires died over his revenge? Vampires had celebrated Amélie for her heroism. Hunters had been quick to besmirch the Morrison name so that they wouldn’t be associated with their supposed actions.

 

Neither side was terribly good at looking after themselves either. Vampires let their lower members run amok, thralling and feeding off unsuspecting humans. They were supposed to police those sorts of actions, but they didn’t. Even Gabriel was lax in that area. He’d left the real John Mabry under the thrall of one of his members for weeks.

 

Hunters ignored when one of their own was going over the line. If they hurt a few innocent humans along the way, what did it matter? Loose cannons would die eventually anyway.  Either they’d get caught by the police, or a vampire would kill them for stepping over the line.  In the meantime, they’d benefit from the unscrupulous hunter’s actions. They’d send them after vampires who hadn’t technically broken the truce agreements, but were considered threats.

 

Neither side was guiltless. Both of them let innocent humans be harmed by wayward members simply because it benefitted them in some way. Yet even though this happened, Jack couldn’t justify starting a war between the two factions.

 

This meant that he had to create a new plan. The first step of which would have to be faking his memory recovery. Inspiration struck when he was walking by the gym and heard Fareeha inside. She was lifting weights to the beat of some truly atrocious heavy metal. It sounded like the type of metal he’d caught Reinhardt listening to on occasion. He wondered if Fareeha hadn’t introduced him to it.

 

He observed her for a while. The resemblance between her and Ana was striking. If Ana was younger, she might even pass for her daughter’s twin. It was lucky that Jack had joined up with the Amari Clan after Fareeha had mated with Angela. If he hadn’t, she would surely recognize him.

 

As she finished her set, she turned the music player off. “Jack!” she greeted him, “What brings you here?”

 

“Your music, actually. I was wondering if you could download a copy to my phone.”

 

Fareeha obliged and downloaded more than the one song Jack requested. She rattled on for a while about her favorite exercise music which segued into her favorite combat maneuvers and eventually an odd tangent on her favorite hair care products before bidding him farewell and practically pushing him out of the room so that she could concentrate on the rest of her workout routine. Ana had always said that her daughter was chatty, but now he knew why she’d always said that with a smile on her face.

 

Knowing that Gabriel was busy with paperwork he was behind on, Jack decided to take a stroll around the premises. There were several paths for walking that afforded him the opportunity to both listen to Fareeha’s music and think. By the time he finished walking, he had a plan.

 

The first phase of the plan was the trickiest. Once Gabriel was asleep for the night, he put up a sort of filter in their bond and projected as much heavy metal through their bond as he dared.Then he pretended to fall off the bed.

 

Thankfully, it worked like a charm. Jack mumbled about his memories. Gabriel escorted him to the private recovery room they’d set up ahead of time with a promise to talk later, and Jack spend his first night apart from Gabriel in weeks.

 

He _hated_ it. Every single instinct in his body was demanding that he go back to Gabriel’s bed. Sleep was elusive without Gabriel’s comforting bulk beside him. For years, he had slept wherever was safest for him to be. It didn’t matter where he was. But Gabriel had broken him of that habit.

 

The sole benefit was that he looked like he’d had a rough night when he met up with Gabriel the next morning. Gabriel didn’t look like he’d slept any better than Jack had. He looked apprehensive as he greeted Jack.

 

“How are you feeling?” he asked as Jack sat down at the breakfast table.

 

“Tired. I missed you last night and this morning,” he admitted.

 

The words seemed to ease the tension in Gabriel’s shoulders a little. “And how do you feel about feeling that way?”

 

“Gabriel, I’m not having a meltdown over us if that’s what you’re asking. I’m more concerned about what I remember about my friends and family to be honest.” Jack covered his lie with a bite of toast. “We’re sort of estranged.”

 

“Oh,” Gabriel astutely observed. But he sent a wave of comfort along their bond, so Jack didn’t tease him about it.

 

“I guess that makes it easier for us, but it kind of sucks not having a family,” he admitted.

 

“We’ll be your family,” Gabriel hasted to reassure him. “I know that these aren’t great memories that you’ve recovered, but we’ll do anything we can to make this a better experience for you.”

 

“Thanks, Gabe,” Jack said. He glanced away from Gabriel’s face, unable to look away from the earnestness in his eyes. With words like that, Jack was half tempted to fall in love with him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The vampires who lived at the Reyes estate seemed to relax after Jack ‘recovered’ his memories.  Apparently, there had been a large contingent of them that believed he would abandon Gabriel. The theory seemed founded in the fake profiles that Genji had created for ‘John’ on the internet. In those, Jack lacked drive and appeared to be a rather shallow individual.

 

He tried not to think about it too much. There were happier things to be focusing on than the gossip of some vampires who probably should have grown out of the habit centuries ago. Things like how freely Jack could gain information about the different vampire covens.

 

Even though he had originally participated in the bonding ritual for the express purpose of gathering information from the inside, he was surprised at the amount of information shared freely with him. Gabriel had decided that immediately starting to educate his mate on the intricacies of vampire clans was an absolute must.

 

These training sessions often saw Hanzo and Jesse sitting in with them. They would debate finer points of various agreements or partnerships, and Jack would sit back and learn from their discussions. To the person he was supposed to have been, it would have been completely boring information. As the person he actually was, it was absolutely fascinating.

 

Part of him wished that he could just let go of his vendetta so that he could learn the information without having a hidden agenda behind it. But the wounds inflicted upon him were too great, and he couldn’t lose sight of his ultimate goal no matter what else happened.

 

That ultimate goal was the most difficult to focus on whenever he was alone with his mate. Gabriel was a distraction at the best of times. His gray skin was slowly starting to return to its normal, warm brown color. The first time Gabriel spotted a patch of normal looking skin, he’d almost cried over it.

 

It was both beautiful and sad at the same time. Jack had ended up christening the spot with a kiss which lead to another kiss and another until he reached Gabriel’s lips and they were making out in the middle of the day in Gabriel’s office. Jesse had walked in on them, took one look at how Gabriel’s shirt was rucked up around his armpits and announced he was scarred for life. Jack didn’t much believe him because he’d said something similar the first night of their bonding.

 

Alongside the more cosmetic benefits of their bonding, Gabriel’s strength was returning. While he wasn’t close to the normal strength of a vampire, he was close to that of a healthy, human male. A fact that he didn’t share with Jack until it became obvious.

 

Morning feedings were a ritual that Jack was still ashamed to enjoy. Even though his father was more peace minded than his grandfather, Jack would’ve been disowned if he had been caught going into the bed of a vampire. It was difficult to shake that sort of ingrained response. It was harder to ignore the needs of his own body and mind.

 

Finding pleasure in the act was commonplace. Jack almost feared that he had a Pavlovian response to the sensation of fangs pricking against his neck. Whether or not he was right about that was a moot point because he was starting to think that nothing was ever going to feel as good as an open bond when Gabriel was feeding.

 

“Fuck,” Jack whispered, his hand curling up into Gabriel’s hair. He threw his leg over Gabriel’s hip, using it to pull their bodies closer together. The pressure the action gave his cock was both pleasurable and maddening.

 

“ _Minx_ ,” the word floated into his head with Gabriel’s distinct voice behind it. Jack thought he’d be able to identify that voice anywhere. Where it was the inhuman growl that it’d had held when they first met, or the warmer, brighter version of it that Gabriel had regained, it was always distinct.

 

But the fact that they’d reached the casual word sending phase was concerning. Vague impressions were one thing. Even flashes of imagination or memories weren’t that threatening to Jack’s secret. Even the most damning of his remembrances were unlikely to be understandable without context.

 

Thoughts were a different story. Jack’s unconscious mind loved to drop the shields he put up during the day. The bond seriously disliked having so much as a filter up between him and Gabriel, and his subconscious shared that distaste. Of course, everything was still technically him. A big part of himself wanted to simply give into all the pleasures and comforts that the bond was offering him.

 

But his conscious self knew how dangerous and idiotic fully giving in would be. It would compromise his revenge. It would put Gabriel in danger. More than that, it would change everything between them. His very desire for that ultimate closeness would be the one thing that would drive them apart.

 

Hanzo and Fareeha had caused strain on the Reyes Coven’s relationship with other covens. Taking hunters as mates was rare.  And it was frowned upon because of the danger of them using their bonds to infiltrate the coven. In other words, do exactly what Jack had set out to do.

 

To have two high ranking members of the same coven mate to such people had caused unrest among the covens. There had been rumors that Gabriel’s coven was aligning itself with hunters. The announcement that Gabriel had mated with a regular old human had eased these fears greatly.

 

But even Gabriel would fear him if Jack revealed who he truly was. The hate in his eyes whenever he looked at the family’s sword spoke for just how much he hated Jack’s family. Jesse supported and shared his sire’s feelings towards the clan. Jack would be hard pressed to find any vampire who didn’t have some sort of ingrained loathing towards his family name and crest.

 

An odd bump against his skin drew him out of his thoughts. It was a familiar enough sensation, though not one he’d ever experienced in Gabriel’s bed.

 

Gabriel’s cock was hard and pushing against him.

 

“Finally noticed, did you?” Gabriel teased.

 

Jack snorted at him. “You didn’t have that yesterday.”

 

“Very observant,” Gabriel replied.

 

“Does this mean that I finally get to touch it?” Jack teased in return, wiggling his eyebrows for effect. Whatever his future concerns were, they could wait. Whatever the day’s concerns were could wait as well. The thought of Gabriel being hard was making just about any other thoughts disappear from his mind.

 

In response to his question, Gabriel hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his sleep pants and pushed them off his hips and legs. His cock bounced at being set free from the confines of his clothing, and Jack’s cock jerked within his boxers at the sight of it.

 

Gabriel had a tendency to wax poetic about how pink Jack’s everything was. It was embarrassing as all fuck, but there wasn’t any room to return the favor. Gabriel’s dick was thick and dark. An uncut wonder of manhood. Jack had never really had romantic feelings towards a dick before, but he might have to change his mind about that.

 

“You don’t like it,” Gabriel said as his hand came down to obstruct Jack’s view, covering the patches of gray that remained along its shaft.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jack chided as he batted the hand away. “It’s fucking glorious. I’m just taking a moment to admire it because _somebody_ didn’t want his junk looked at or played with until he could get it up. Which, I might add, robbed him of the chance to engage in sexual activity that wasn’t jerking his partner off.”

 

A relieved sigh bubbled out of Gabriel’s lips. “Well you can see it now, can’t you? So you should do something about that opportunity.”

 

Without saying another word, Jack pushed an unsuspecting Gabriel onto his back and settled between his legs. Surprise combat tactics had always been his favorite to learn, and they adapted well to more intimate settings. Not waiting for Gabriel to catch his breath, Jack leaned down and took the tip of his cock into his mouth.

 

“Fuck,” was all that Gabriel had to say on the matter.

 

Objectively, it hadn’t been that long since Jack had sucked somebody off. Avoiding meaningful relationships didn’t equate to never fucking. There were plenty of men interested in hooking up with a man who looked like he did. Gabriel had gone far longer without sex.

 

But it felt like ages had passed since he’d last had the weight of a cock on his tongue or the feeling of its crown poking at the back of his throat. A lot of people hated sucking cock for one reason or another. Jack had never understood those people.

 

He bobbed up and down its length, pausing every once in a while to press gentle kisses at its tip. He savored the flavor of Gabriel’s precome as it spread along his tongue. He relished the way Gabriel’s soft pants turned into moans as he used his right hand to play with his mate’s balls.

 

“Fuck, fuck. Jackie, you need to stop or I’m going to come,” Gabriel whined.

 

Jack opted to suck him back in with one long slide instead. They were both rewarded with Gabriel’s cock twitching before shooting its load into Jack’s mouth. He swallowed until Gabriel had no more to give him, and reluctantly released his mate's dick from his mouth.

 

He flashed Gabriel a smug smirk as he crawled up the length of his body before flopping down on top of him and stealing a kiss.

 

“It felt like you enjoyed that almost as much as I did,” Gabriel commented once Jack let go of his mouth.

 

Jack shrugged. “People don’t appreciate cock like they should.”

 

The words earned him a chuckle that seemed to rumble through all of Gabriel’s chest. “I think that’s just you.”

 

“Well, I’ll tell you a secret,” Jack whispered, “I also have a thing for necrophilia.”

 

Gabriel let out a decidedly unsexy groan. “I’m not dead. Why do you humans always have to make that joke?”

 

“Oh, I’m one of ‘you humans’ now, am I? Get a little sex, and all the sweet words just disappear.”

 

Possessive hands dug into his hips not a second after he finished his sentence. “Never,” Gabriel promised. “You’re my mate. Nothing else will ever come before you or between us.”

 

They were pretty words. Gabriel meant them. Deep down though, Jack knew that they weren’t true. To stop his saddening, if truthful, train of thought, he rubbed his erection against Gabriel. “We should do something about that,” he suggested playfully.

 

“Why do you still have clothing on?” Gabriel asked as he shifted the hands he still had on Jack’s hips so that they could shove his boxers off.

 

His hand wrapped around Jack’s cock the instant that the offending article of clothing was flung to the bedroom floor. It moved with practiced motions. Gabriel had learned exactly how Jack liked to be jerked off, and he was good at it. So the surprise he felt when Jack stilled his wrist was expected.

 

“I want you to fuck me,” Jack informed him.

 

 Gabriel’s lust filled brain seemed to like the statement, but practical words came out of his mouth. “I just came,” he pointed out.

 

“You have plenty of time to recover. I haven’t done anal in ages, and I like to be well stretched,” Jack announced as he rolled off Gabriel’s body to lay face first on the mattress beside him. To emphasize his request, he waggled his ass. It wasn’t as nice of an ass as Gabriel’s renewed body sported, but the view was enticing enough to attract the attention of Gabriel’s hands.

 

“Minx,” Gabriel repeated his earlier sentiment aloud. The bed creaked as he moved on it to retrieve the bottle of lube stashed in the nightstand. It was a new bottle that they’d picked up on one of their rare excursions off the estate grounds. Once the skin on Gabriel’s face had mostly recovered, he had wanted to go back out into public after avoiding it for so many years because of his appearance.

 

The trip had been fun, but stressful. Gabriel was no longer used to being around so many humans at a time. Jack had spent the entire outing holding his hand to keep him calmed down. But they’d ended up buying new lube and a couple of sex toys, so Jack was inclined to call it successful.

 

If Gabriel had been paranoid about having his flaccid cock played with, Jack had outright refused to get fucked with their new dildos until he’d had the real thing. It was a point of pride more than anything else. He’d gotten the idea of Gabriel putting his dick into him in his head, and it became the only thing he wanted. At least, the only thing that would do when it came to anal sex. He was more than happy to let Gabriel play with his cock.

 

In any case, the elation of finally having Gabriel’s fingers inside of him was practically orgasmic in on its own. Jack liked it, and Gabriel liked that Jack liked it. Their bond became something of an endless loop of liking the fact that Gabriel was lubing up Jack’s asshole so that he could put his dick in him. It would be hilarious if not for the fact that Jack was getting so horny he might pop off at any moment.

 

The good part about it was that some of their mutual excitement had clearly transferred down to Gabriel’s dick. It was already chubbing up by the time Gabriel had gotten four fingers inside of Jack. Gabriel pulled his fingers free and used his lubed up hand to jerk at his half-full cock until it became fully hard.

 

With their bond as open as it was, Jack could feel the electric sparks of pleasure skittering up Gabriel’s spine as if they were his own. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, and Gabriel settled in behind him. The head of Gabriel’s cock popped inside of him and brought a renewed rush of want, need, and pleasure with it.

 

“ _Finally_ ,” Jack thoughtlessly pushed through their bond as Gabriel sank deeper and deeper inside of him. “ _Fucking finally_.”

 

Gabriel didn’t respond with his mouth or mind, but his body seemed to echo Jack’s thoughts. He fucked with long, powerful strokes, pulling out so far that it felt like his cock might come all the way out, then driving back in with enough force to jar against Jack’s prostate in the most delightful of ways.

 

Jack’s own cock was throbbing between his legs, practically begging for attention. It ached. So Jack leaned his weight onto his left arm to free his right hand to tug on his needy dick.

 

“Shit,” Gabriel growled behind him, his hips picking up speed as he moved from stroking in and out to more of a pounding motion. He leaned over Jack’s back, and the change caused Jack to collapse onto his elbow to support their weight. Jack might’ve complained about the sudden movement, but there were fangs going into his throat.

 

“Fuck,” he gasped.

 

The bite Gabriel was giving him was more possessive than it usually was when he was feeding, but he was definitely feeding. The pleasure of fucking into what was his mixed with his visceral, primal satisfaction attaining sustenance. He was feeding, fulfilling two different hungers at once.

 

No, Jack was fulfilling those needs. He was taking care of his mate, providing for him, pleasuring him. The instincts from their first night of bonding reared up in his hindbrain. Gabriel was his as much as he was Gabriel’s.

 

With a shout that was as much a snarl as it was anything else, Jack came. He spilled his seed onto the bed, coming harder than could ever remember coming before. Gabriel kept fucking him through it, wringing the last bits of pleasure from Jack’s body before easing into his second orgasm of the day.

 

Gabriel rolled them both over onto their sides, but stayed inside Jack with both cock and fangs for a long while after his lust had driven him to come. Eventually though, his cock softened and slipped out of Jack’s body, and he withdrew his fangs seconds later.

 

“That was the best sex I’ve ever had,” Jack admitted to the wall he was facing.

 

Behind him, Gabriel let out of a soft laugh. “Me too, Jackie. Me too.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The bliss couldn’t last forever. Jack had known this from the very beginning of their bonding even if he hadn’t comprehended why. In some ways, he and Gabriel had been balancing on the edge of blade as sharp as the ones that the Coven Killer boasted.

 

Jack knew their relationship wouldn’t last very long nor would it end well. That was both the benefit and the curse of being the one who knew all the secrets in their relationship. It was the curse of being the one who was withholding information.

 

What he hadn’t expected was the way that their relationship would end. He had expected some yelling and deserved accusations of betrayal and treachery. At least, he consoled himself, he was right about there being bloodshed involved. He had always assumed the blood being spilt would be Amélie Lacroix’s, but it turned out it was his.

 

For all his training, Jack had never been predisposed to hypervigilance. Once he felt that he was safe and secure, or that others would watch his back, his guard would drop. He’d done it with his family. He’d partially done it when he was a part of the Amari Clan, and he’d done it with Gabriel’s coven.

 

Vampires were formidable foes, and he’d had two of them with him when he went into town. Gabriel had been busy negotiating a territory deal for the past week. Jack had been able to tell how guilty Gabriel was feeling about neglecting his mate, so he’d decided to go into town for a bit of shopping and sightseeing. Jack’s plan had been to alleviate Gabriel’s stress, to show him that Jack was perfectly capable of amusing himself, and that Gabriel could feel free to focus his attention on his business dealings.

 

It turned out that Jack’s plan was a bad one. He didn’t remember much about the attack, but he remembered his forehead connecting with the edge of the café table he’d just been sitting at. He remembered his blood spraying across the cobblestone flooring and the snarls of his escorts as they tangled with the attackers.

 

He remembered that he knew the people attacking them, and they weren’t vampires. If he had to hazard a guess, the plan was Reinhardt’s. Genji favored stealth. Ana favored distance. Only Reinhardt favored brawling, and only he would risk media attention.

 

Jack’s head started pounding the instant he woke up. Part of it was due to the now bandaged injury on his forehead. The other part was the frantic yelling that was coming in through his bond. It was Gabriel. Who else would it be? But it wasn’t the crisp, clear connection that Jack was used to having with him. It was distorted like he was listening to a static filled broadcast playing in another room.

 

He sent what reassurance he could along it, and the effort made his head hurt even more than before. It was like walking on broken glass, and the response Gabriel sent was like pouring lemon juice on the wounds. It made Jack dizzy with pain. The field around his vision darkened. He had no choice but to put up his mental blocks to mute their connection as best he could. If the spotty tapping he felt against it was any indication, Gabriel was not a fan of his decision.

 

Then again, Jack would’ve known that without Gabriel’s tapping either.

 

The door to the room Jack was in swung open, and Ana Amari herself walked in. “Hello, Jack. How are you feeling?”

 

“Like I got knocked unconscious with a café table,” Jack replied.

 

“Ah. Yes. Sorry about that. Our little rescue attempt didn’t go as planned,” she explained as she pulled a chair out from under the nearby desk and sat in it.

 

“Rescue attempt?” Jack hated how confused and out of it he sounded, but there was nothing he could do to fix it.

 

Ana laughed and looked at him with something like pity in her eyes. “Of course, what else would you call it?”  


“An assault?” Jack ventured.

 

“Look, Jack. I apologize for the injuries that happened to you, but this was the first opportunity we had to get you out of there. We couldn’t exactly storm Gabriel Reyes’s estate. It would’ve been suicide. And the only other time you were off its grounds you were with the coven master himself.”

 

“Get me out of there,” Jack echoed her statement. A sense of dread coiling in his stomach.

 

“I don’t know what they did to you in there or what lies they told you,” Ana said, “but we protect our own, Jack. You went into that hell hole for us. We weren’t just going to leave you to rot in that gilded prison.”

 

Jack shook his head. “It wasn’t a prison.”

 

Ana took a careful breath. “I know that you feel that way about it, but that’s because of what they did to you in there. We’re going to help you.”

 

Jack stared at her. “I don’t need help, Ana.”

 

She returned his stare with a look of pity. “Yes, you do.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Jack was going out of his fucking mind. His entire body itched, skin crawling like he was going through some sort of withdrawal. His bond to Gabriel was becoming more and more painful to touch. Every time he even tried to lower his shields, his senses would feel assaulted.

 

If he had to hazard a guess, Gabriel wasn’t feeling the same way. Either that or being a vampire for centuries had numbed him to psychic pain. He was constantly poking at their bond, trying to get a response from Jack. Feelings of sympathy would leak through on occasion, so he must have realized that Jack was in distress.

 

Not that Jack being in distress was a big leap in logic to make. Being abducted wasn’t a fun and games sort of deal. Nobody would assume Jack was at a pool party somewhere.

 

The worst thing was that he couldn’t focus on creating an escape plan. All he could focus on was how much he wanted to be back in Gabriel’s bed. How much he wanted to be back in _their_ bed, waking up to strong arms around his waist and a familiar mouth biting at his throat. He wanted to stumble into the gym and have Fareeha lecture him about proper lifting techniques and hair care. He wanted to laugh silently behind the shield of his morning coffee mug while watching Hanzo mercilessly tease Jesse over his terrible pronunciation of Japanese words.

 

Hell, he even missed Angela and her constant worrying about his health. But most of all, he missed Gabriel. It was like an entire part of him was just gone. Jack wanted and wanted, but he couldn’t have.

 

He just wanted to go home.

 

Homesickness was something he was acutely familiar with. As a teenager he’d spent more nights crying himself to sleep than not. There wasn’t a day where he didn’t want to go back home to see his parents and annoying older brothers. But they wouldn’t be there. They would never be there again.

 

So he’d kept going because there wasn’t anything else to do. Putting one foot in front of the other was the only way he kept himself together. He’d known that he’d never have another home, so he got used to living without one.

 

“Fuck this shit,” Jack growled, wiping the tears from his eyes. “I’m too fucking old to be crying over my problems.” He stomped to the door of the small room he’d been locked away in and pounded on it with his fist. “Amari! I want to talk to you!” he yelled.

 

It didn’t take long for Ana to appear. Genji silently trailed behind her. Jack wasn’t sure whether her choice to bring backup was a compliment or not.

 

“I want to leave,” he told her.

 

“Jack, we’ve been over this,” Ana began.

 

“We haven’t, actually. You’ve just locked the door on the assumption that I would leave. Which, by the way, is false imprisonment.”

 

“Yes, because we are all concerned with the legalities of locked doors when we kill vampires on a regular basis,” Genji chimed in.

 

Jack growled at him. “Nobody asked you, Genji.”

 

“Now you sound like my brother. I wonder, Jack, did he help those monsters do this to you?” Genji asked, tone sympathetic instead of confrontational.

 

“Fuck. Off.”

 

Ana placed a gentle hand on Jack’s crossed arms. “I know this is difficult for you, but you have to remember that we’re helping you. You’ll see that once we break that bond of yours.”

 

Ice water felt like it was running through Jack’s veins. “What?”

 

“While we were hunting for you, we ran across a doctor of sorts. He called himself Junkenstein, although I doubt that was his real name. He had more information about vampires and their sick mating rituals than anyone I’d ever met. We were skeptical of his claims of course, but everything he told us made sense. These ‘bonds’ are used to control human victims, to brainwash them,” Ana explained.

 

“I’m not brainwashed,” Jack protested.

 

“Jack, you are,” Ana told him. “But we’re going to help you get better.”

 

“I don’t want to be better. I want to go home,” Jack blurted out. He knew it was a mistake the instant the words left his mouth.  


“Even if we let you leave, you couldn’t go back there,” Ana informed him.

 

 “Why? What did you do?” Jack demanded.

 

When Ana stayed silent, Genji piped up. “There is a technique that allows you to poison the blood of a human, make it inedible to a vampire. If they drink it, it will kill them. So, you see, even if you go back to whatever goon Gabriel Reyes sold you to, you will only simply murder them with your presence. They will feed from you eventually. Starvation will make them do it.”

 

“How could you?” Jack asked Ana. “How could you do this to me without my consent?”

 

“How couldn’t we?” Ana asked back to him.

 

Jack wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to destroy the room, no, the entire building he was staying in. “Get out,” he ordered hoarsely.

 

Miraculously, Ana and Genji seemed to know when they were facing a losing battle. They left quietly, which was probably for the best. If they’d said one more word, Jack might’ve tried murdering them like they meant him to murder Gabriel.

 

The worst part about it was that he couldn’t even have a period of denial where he convinced himself that their poisoning trick wasn’t true. He’d seen it before. He’d seen Gérard Lacroix go to take a drink from his mate when he and Joe Morrison had destroyed the vampires attacking their summit.

 

It was a bite that was meant to heal his wounds. The hunters had all turned their heads away in disgust of the act. All but Jack.

 

He was the first to see Gérard wince in pain, the first to see the blood in his mouth blacken and froth, dribbling out of his mouth like he was a rabid dog. He’d seen the way Amélie’s pleasant face had twisted into a cruel look of triumph. She’d tricked her own mate into turning her, and she let him writhe in agony for hours while she tore through his loyal coven members and Jack’s family.

 

But he’d only ever seen that poison trick once. And it had always been suspicious that the Lacroix Coven had been able to sign a treaty with another clan so quickly. Just what was the Rutledge Clan leader doing so close to the Morrison Clan grounds anyway? And wasn’t the Rutledge Clan from Australia?

 

It was circumstantial evidence, but Jack didn’t need it to be more substantial. He’d long ago promised to wipe out Amélie and all her associates. This new incident only furthered the fire of his hatred.

 

She knew about him. She had to know. That was why she’d sent Gabriel the sword as a bonding gift. It wasn’t a taunt for Gabriel, it was a promise to Jack. A promise that she’d steal everything away from him for a second time. Hell, weakening Gabriel’s position by robbing him of his mate was probably just a side perk.

 

Rage screamed inside Jack’s veins. Gabriel’s tapping on their bond increased in frequency in response, but Jack ignored him. He was going to hunt down Amélie Lacroix and then he was going to use his family’s sword to kill her.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Epilogue**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The motel room was filthy, even to the naked eye. Jack didn’t want to think about what a black light would show – especially on the bed. But he wasn’t at the motel for comfort or cleanliness.

 

Bleaching his hair was easy enough to do. Waxing the front part of it off was more painful, but he couldn’t argue with the results. He looked substantially different once he was done giving himself the look of somebody with male pattern baldness. And looking different was key.

 

If Amélie had found him once before, should would find him again. He clearly hadn’t been careful enough the first time around. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. She wouldn’t be looking for a man who looked like he was in his late fifties. Mates didn’t age past their point of bonding.

 

His duffle bag was packed full of new clothes that didn’t reflect his old style. He’d never been the motorcycle jacket kind of man. He was always a bit of a boy scout before, maybe a bit of a jock, but never a rebel.

 

It probably wasn’t a perfect disguise, but it was close enough. The mask would help to cover his identify, as would the new scars adorning his face. Genji hadn’t been an easy target to take down, but Jack had the advantage on him. Genji had been trained to fight since he was a child. Jack had been trained to win.

 

Jack could’ve gotten the cuts properly taken care of, but that was what Ana would expect him to do. As far as she knew, Jack relied on his good looks as a core part of his hunting. He’d always cultivated the idea that he wasn’t as good of a fighter as everyone else. His father had always preached the importance of keeping an ace or two up his sleeve, and Jack had obsessively honored that lesson.

 

Cultivating a persona that said he was the best at undercover work and information gathering was one of the reasons he was sent on the Reyes mission in the first place. That and his resemblance to the person they were rescuing. When a man relied on his face for his livelihood, he’d do anything to keep it looking good.

 

Thankfully, Jack didn’t actually rely on his face all that much.  With his mask covering the majority of the scars, and photographs of him shouldn’t raise any suspicions with the Amari Clan. If they did, well, he’d cross that bridge when he got to it. If he survived his mission against Lacroix, he might even seek them down first. Jack owed them for their hospitality, but there were some things he couldn’t forgive.

 

The thought reminded him of the final thing on his checklist. The one thing he’d been putting off for weeks as he traveled around the globe, leaving false trails, and disappearing off the face of the map. Whatever drug they had put in his system to weaken his bond wasn’t leaving. It was probably an implant of sorts, maybe even a genetic therapy that would permanently change his blood chemistry in some way.

 

Not that it mattered. Jack didn’t expect to live another five years. His only regret was that his death would take Gabriel down with him.

 

But while whatever they’d done to him had fucked with his bond, it hadn’t broken it. And Gabriel hadn’t given up on him. Even when Gabriel was asleep, he’d reach out to Jack, searching for a gap in his mental shields.

 

It was heartbreaking, and it was a weakness for both of them. Jack couldn’t let Gabriel keep futility slamming against their bond. It wasn’t healthy, and Gabriel deserved to be as happy as Jack could make him.

 

With a deep breath, Jack lowered his block. Pain instantly attacked him, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it. “ _Gabriel,_ ” he sent along their bond.

 

“ _Jack! Jackie, where are you?_ ” came the instant response. “ _Just tell me, and I’ll come get you. I swear I will murder everyone who laid a fucking finger on you._ ”

 

“ _I love you_ ,” Jack confessed.

 

“ _Why does that sound like a goodbye?_ ”

 

“ _Because it is_.”

 

“ _What? No. Jack, just come home. Whatever is wrong, we can fix it. I promise_ ,” Gabriel pleaded.

 

“ _I can’t come home, Gabe_.”

 

“ _Yes, you can,_ ” Gabriel insisted. “ _You can come home right now_.”

 

“ _No_.”

 

“ _Please. I literally can’t live without you. Don’t make me sing a Waverly Brothers song to prove it._ ”

 

Jack laughed without humor. “ _Goodbye, Gabe_.”

 

“ _No! Wait! I love…_ ”

 

Jack cut the connection before Gabriel finished his sentence. He didn’t know what he would do if he let Gabriel keep speaking. They wanted the same things, but couldn’t have them. Letting Gabriel have his way would just end up ruining both of them.

 

Tears ran down Jacks face as he forced more and more layers into place until Gabriel’s railing against his shields was just a whisper. Then he curled up on the floor and sobbed like he hadn’t since he was sixteen and lost everything.

 

Jack Morrison checked into a motel room at night. A soldier checked out in the morning.

 


End file.
